Tensions dramatically increased on Monday night in the Kurdish city of Sanandaj (Sine) in northwest Iran, as Iranian authorities deployed thousands of security forces to launch a violent assault on inhabitants, reported Rudaw.
Reports from the city said riot police, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officers, and members of the paramilitary force Basij participated in the assault.
Human rights groups including Amnesty International said they had received credible reports of widespread use of live fire from firearms and excessive use of tear gas, while Hengaw Human Rights Organisation warned that special military units were being sent to the Kurdish city.
Videos published on social media showed Iranian regime soldiers firing directly at protesters. But other images from Sanandaj showed the resistance continuing uncowed, with people remaining on the streets and dancing around fires to Kurdish music, wearing Kurdish flags and showing the signs of ‘victory’.
Although the internet was massively restricted, some other video footage that surfaced from the city showed large groups of security forces riding around on motorbikes and firing randomly in residential neighbourhoods.
" ۱۸ مهر ماه، اینجا سنندجه. نیروهای فاشیستی…."#سنندج pic.twitter.com/vCXBDBUgSn
— Kurdistan Human Rights Network (@KurdistanHRN) October 10, 2022
Amnesty International warned that the Iranian authorities were planning to cover up their crimes by shutting down the internet and called on governments around the world to raise their voices in protest.
Fazel Hawramy, a journalist based in Southern Kurdistan, wrote that the attacks were reminiscent of the war in April 1980 in which the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCG) pounded the city with helicopter gunships, mortars, and heavy machine guns, killing hundreds of residents.
There are also unconfirmed reports of widespread protests and tensions in other Kurdish cities, including Kermanshah (Kirmashan), Saqqez (Seqiz), Bukan (Bokan) and Mahabad (Mehabad).
The latest video footage from Sanandaj, shared by the BBC’s journalist Jiyar Gol, showed protestors on Tuesday morning pushing back security forces on the streets after 24 days of protests.
The protesters push back the security forces. Here is #sanandaj, the capital of Iranian Kurdistan. Where have witnessed mass protest in the past 24 days. #mahsa_amini #Nika_Shakarami pic.twitter.com/tpnVshPveJ
— @jiyargol (@jiyargol) October 11, 2022
