Shooting attack at southern Iranian shrine leaves at least 15 dead
Tehran, Oct 26 (EFE).- At least 15 people were killed and 40 were injured Wednesday in a shooting attack at a shrine in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz, Iranian official media reported.
An attacker fired at visitors to the Shahcheragh shrine this afternoon, deputy provincial governor Esmaeil Mohebbipour said, according to the official IRNA news agency.
The attacker was wounded and arrested, according to IRNA, which had said that the attack was carried out by three people in an earlier report.
The “terrorist” arrived at the shrine in a car, began shooting at the pilgrims present upon entering the religious compound and then tried to flee, according to eyewitnesses quoted by IRNA.
The agency affirmed that the attack is “in the style of takfiri terrorists” (Sunni radicals) and Nour News, an agency close to the Supreme National Security Council, said the attacker is not Iranian.
Many people visit the shrine on Wednesdays, according to local tradition, and the attack occurred during peak visiting hours.
The attack came amid protests that have rocked Iran since the death of Mahsa Amini on September 16, after she was arrested three days earlier by the so-called morality police for wearing the Islamic veil incorrectly.
Thousands of people defied the authorities on Wednesday to commemorate 40 days since her death.
The protests are mainly led by young people and women shouting “Women, life, freedom!”, chanting slogans against the government and burning veils, one of the symbols of the Islamic Republic and something unthinkable not so long ago.
The heavy police repression has caused at least 108 deaths, according to the Oslo-based NGO Iran Human Rights. EFE
ar-jlr/ks/jt
