3 killed in Iran protests over woman's death in police custody

At least three people have been killed in several days of protests in Iran's Kurdistan province over the death last week of a 22-year-old woman in police custody.

Kurdistan Governor Ismail Zarei Koosha announced that three people had been killed "suspiciously" in demonstrations held in cities of the province, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported late Tuesday.

Mahsa Amini’s death has fueled widespread protests across Iran.

Two people were killed with a gun, and the cause of death of one person is being investigated, said Koosha.

The armed forces did not use a weapon of the type that killed the two people in question, he added.

Amini was taken to a police station in the capital Tehran on Friday by members of the morality police for an alleged violation of the Islamic dress code.

Inside the police station, she fainted in mysterious circumstances and was later pronounced dead at a hospital in Tehran, according to CCTV footage released by the police.

Police have denied mistreating Amini and say she died of a heart attack. Authorities say that an investigation has been launched.

Tehran and other major Iranian cities have been rocked by angry protests in the past few days over Amini's death, with protesters calling for justice and accountability.

In a statement Monday, the US White House National Security Council termed the Iranian woman's death as an "appalling and egregious affront to human rights.”