At Least 5 Killed in Drive-by Attack on Bazaar in Southwestern Iran

At least five people were killed – including a young girl, and several were wounded in an attack on a bazaar in the southwestern Iranian city of Izeh. Armed assailants driving two motorcycles opened fire on shoppers and security forces in the central market in Izeh, according to the semiofficial Tasnim news service, citing a Khuzestan Province official. The assailants in the market incident reportedly were armed with Kalashnikov rifles. No group has claimed responsibility; it is not clear whether the attack was related to the widespread anti-government protests taking place throughout the Islamic Republic which continued in Izeh on Wednesday evening at the time of the attack and appear to have escalated, with protesters setting fire to a Shiite religious seminary.   Nearly 350 people have been killed during the anti-government protests that began with the death of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, 22, in September in the custody of the morality police after being detained for wearing her hijab incorrectly.