Iranian security forces shoot at demonstrators - at least five dead

According to activists, Iranian security forces have opened fire on demonstrators in a Kurdish city in the west of the country. At least five participants in the anti-government protest were killed. The protest in Javanrud came at the funeral of two people who had been killed during protests the previous day.

Online videos showed dozens of protesters taking shelter in alleyways as gunfire rang out in the streets. Some videos show people lying motionless and bloodied on the street, while others show residents queuing to donate blood at a local hospital.

Since the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman in the custody of the vice squad on September 16, there have been repeated protests against the government in Iran. She is said to have worn the Islamic headscarf improperly.

The Kurdish human rights group Hengaw said Iranian security forces shot at protesters in Janrud. Heavy machine guns were used, the group said, citing eyewitnesses.

According to Hengaw, seven people were killed on Monday. The human rights network Kurdistan spoke of five dead. Many of the injured have been treated in private homes amid fears they will be arrested in hospitals, the network said. Several had gunshot wounds to the head or torso.

The Iranian authorities have severely restricted reporting on the protests, and access to the Internet is often not possible. An independent verification of the information is therefore difficult.

The semi-state news agency Fars reported on protests in Jawanrud on Sunday evening. Live ammunition was shot at security forces, it said. Two people were killed and another four were injured. State media initially did not report on the violence on Monday.

At least 426 people have been killed and more than 17,400 arrested in Iran since the latest protests began, according to the group Human Rights Activists. At least 55 members of the security forces were killed.

MP Jalal Mahmudzadeh from the Kurdish city of Mahabad told the daily Etemad that eleven people had been killed in protests there since the end of October, many of them in the past few days. Some security forces shot at houses and shops on Saturday.