27th December 2022 - Since the start of the current uprising, which began on the 16th September 2022 and recently passed the 100-day mark, at least 65 children under the age of 18 have been killed by the regime's security forces and 'morality police'. Some had participated in the protests while others had no involvement.
The latest young victim was Soha Etebari, 12, who was shot and killed inside her family’s car by the armed forces of the clerical regime on 25th December 2022.
Soha Etebari and her family drove on the road from Bandar Abbas, in Hormozgan province, to Ahvaz, the capital of Khuzestan, when security forces at a checkpoint in Bastak opened fire on their car. Badly injured, Soha Etebari lost her life on the way to the hospital.
The killing of 12-year-old Soha took place on the night of the 40th day memorial of Kian Pirfalak, 9, who was killed in a similar incident in Izeh, Khuzestan, on November 16, 2022, during a vicious crackdown on protests in the city.
Reports from networks inside the country, show that at least 65 children between the ages of two and 17 have been killed. The reports give the name and age of each victim, as well as the location in which they were murdered. It finds:
- Thirteen of the victims were girls, and 52 were boys.
- Five victims were under the age of 10, and 60 were between 10 and 17 years young.
- The victims were from 33 cities across Iran.
- The largest number of juvenile victims was reported in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Baluchistan Province (15) in the southeastern part of the country, followed by Tehran (9) and Piranshahr in Kurdistan Province (4).
- Most of these children were killed by gunshots, but some of them, including Sarina Ismailzadeh, Nika Shakrami, Mohammad Hossein Kamandalo, and Maedeh Hashemi, were diagnosed with suffering from cerebral hemorrhage or other forms of internal bleeding. The latter was an indication of fatal hits to their heads and other vital areas of their vulnerable bodies by the security forces.
Some were injured due to severe blows and injuries and died after some time. One example is Arnika Ghaem Maghami, who was in a coma fighting for her life for ten days before finally succumbing to her injuries.
