Death toll from Iran unrest rises to 95: NGO

By Mustafa Melih Ahiskali

ISTANBUL (AA) – The death toll from ongoing protests in southern Iran over the death of an Iranian woman in police custody has risen to 95, according to a UK-based activist group on Sunday.

The fatalities occurred in the city of Zahedan in southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province amid clashes between protesters and security forces since Sept. 30, the Baluch Activists Campaign (BAC) group said in a statement on Telegram.

Around 300 others were also injured in the violence, it added.

The group shared a list of the names of those killed, including children aged between 12 and 17.

Iran has for weeks found itself in the midst of mass protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody last month.

Amini died Sept. 16 under mysterious circumstances after being detained by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly violating Iran's Islamic dress code.

Iranian officials have attempted to cast Amini's death as the result of a heart attack she suffered while in custody, but that explanation has fallen flat with protesters and her family who say she was brutally beaten to death.