World

Nine killed in Iraq as Iran attacks Kurdish groups blamed for protests

September 29, 2022 8:48 am

[Source: BBC]

At least nine people have been killed in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, officials say, as Iran launched missiles and drones at what it said were bases of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups.

A pregnant woman was reportedly among those who died in the strikes.

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps said it hit “separatist terrorists” who had supported recent “riots”.

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Anti-government protests have swept across Iran since the death in custody of a Kurdish woman there 12 days ago.

Mahsa Amini, 22, from the north-western city of Saqez, was visiting in Tehran when she was detained by morality police for allegedly violating the strict law requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab, or headscarf.

The police said Ms Amini collapsed at a detention centre after suffering sudden heart failure. But her family have dismissed that and alleged that she was beaten by officers. She died in hospital following three days in a coma.