WERME, Iran — One of the protesters wounded in the Mahabad clashes is claimed to be in critical condition despite two surgeries performed so far to save his life, a source from the Imam Khomeini Hospital told Rudaw.
According to the source, who spoke to Rudaw on condition of anonymity, Iranian police shot Akam Talaj, 25, with a Winchester rifle at close distance, hitting him in his neck and chest. Talaj, who is a student at Mahabad University and is being treated in Werme’s Imam Khomeini Hospital, is reportedly suffering from serious internal bleeding.
Earlier, an Iranian police commander announced that a number of protesters were lightly wounded and they had all left the hospital after being treated.
Tensions are running high in the ethnically Kurdish Iranian Mahabad, where protesters earlier torched a hotel over the unexplained death of 25-year-old Farinaz Khosrawani.
