Four gunmen dressed in fatigues opened fire at a military parade in southwestern Iran, killing at least 29 people including women and children.
The brazen attack on Saturday in the city of Ahvaz came as the country marked the anniversary of the start of its 1980-1988 war with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, and prompted President Hassan Rouhani to warn of a “crushing response”.
Those killed included members of the elite Revolutionary Guards and women and children who had come to watch the parade, the Iranian state-run IRNA news agency said. Another 70 people were wounded.
Three of the attackers died at the scene while a fourth was arrested and later succumbed to his wounds, armed forces spokesman Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi said.
“Of the four terrorists, three were sent to hell at the scene, while the fourth who had been wounded and arrested went to hell moments ago due to his severe wounds,” Shekarchi told state television.
Khuzestan province’s deputy governor Ali-Hossein Hosseinzadeh told the semi-official ISNA news agency “eight to nine” troops were among those killed, as well as a journalist.
Gunfire sprayed into a crowd of marching soldiers, bystanders, and government officials watching from a nearby riser. A video distributed to Iranian media showed soldiers crawling as gunfire blazed towards them. One picked up a gun and scrambled to his feet as women and children fled for their lives.
“We suddenly realised that some armed people wearing fake military outfits started attacking the comrades from behind [the stage] and then opened fire on women and children,” an unidentified soldier said.
“They were just aimlessly shooting around and did not have a specific target.” -Press TV.
