In Iran, security forces are said to have fired on a hospital and a student residence. The human rights group Hengaw said in the short message service Twitter. Iran has been rocked by nationwide protests for weeks. At least 160 people are said to have died.

In Iran, security forces have fired on a hospital and a student residence in response to ongoing anti-government demonstrations, according to activists. The forces “opened fire” on Saturday night in the Kurdish city of Sanandaj against dozens of demonstrators, the human rights group Hengaw said on Twitter. Meanwhile, in the second largest Iranian city, Shiraz, numerous participants at a funeral service for the victims of an attack claimed by the jihadist militia Islamic State (IS) chanted slogans in support of the government.

A video verified by the AFP news agency testifies to the shots fired by security forces at a student residence in Sanandaj – the western capital of Iranian Kurdistan. It shows dozens of police officers riding on motorcycles and then firing up at the accommodation for students at the Medical University of Iranian Kurdistan.

A large number of demonstrators had gathered in front of the hospital in Sanandaj, which the activists say the security forces were shooting at, to “protect” an injured demonstrator who was threatened with arrest, according to Hengaw. The man lying on a stretcher can be seen in a photo shared on Twitter.

Iran has been rocked by nationwide protests for weeks. According to the Oslo-based human rights organization Iran Human Rights (IHR), at least 160 demonstrators have died so far. According to counts by AFP, a total of 28 security forces were also killed.

The ongoing protests across the country were sparked by the death of the young Kurd Mahsa Amini. The 22-year-old died in Tehran in mid-September after being arrested by the so-called vice squad. She allegedly wore her headscarf improperly. Activists accuse the security forces of mistreating the young woman.

According to videos distributed online, numerous students took to the streets again on Saturday, including in the capital Tehran and in Kerman in the south-east of the country and in Kermansha in the north-west. At the funeral service for the 15 victims of the alleged IS attack on a Shiite pilgrimage site in Shiraz, the participants shouted slogans against the “riot” in the country. They also accused the United States, Britain and Israel of being behind the riots.

Images of the ceremony broadcast on state television chanted “Death to America, Israel and the United Kingdom” and “The revolutionary people are on the alert and hate the rioters!” The leader of the powerful Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, joined the memorial service drastic words to anti-government protesters in other cities: “Don’t take to the streets! Today is the last day of the riot.”