Clashes over water in Kazerun; Police: One person killed
News and images published on social media indicate a conflict over water in the village of Kamarj, Kazerun, and the Islamic Republic's police force has confirmed that one person was killed in the clashes.
Mohammad Ebadinejad, the police commander of Kazerun, claims that police officers fired "air-fire" at "rebels" with shotguns, and one person was injured during the shooting and died in the hospital.
It is unclear how the aerial shooting led to the death of one of the attendees.
This Iranian police official also stated that the police, following a court order, intended to "collect unauthorized water pumps," but a number of villagers "rebelled and attacked the officers, threw stones at them, and caused a clash."
Meanwhile, IRNA, the official Iranian government news agency, reported that for years, locals had been drawing water from the Shapur River for irrigating gardens and seasonal crops using stationary and mobile motor pumps. But now that the river's water level has dropped sharply, law enforcement officials were planning to collect the motor pumps.
Drought and water shortages in recent months have led to many protests in various regions of Iran, which have been met with violent repression by law enforcement and security forces.
Source: Voice of America
