TEHRAN: Three policemen were killed in “a vicious attack” in the Iranian capital during protests by a Sufi sect on Monday, a police spokesman said.

“Three police officers were martyred in the street in a vicious attack using a bus,” the spokesman told the official IRNA news agency.

Members of Iran’s Gonabadi Sufi order, known as dervishes, were protesting the arrest of members of the sect, according to unconfirmed social media reports.

Police said gunshots were fired to disperse the protests, and unverified footage on social media showed riot police running through the streets and clashing with black-clad protesters.

“The law enforcement forces arrested a number of dervishes and ended the protest by firing tear gas,” a witness told IRNA.

The conservative-linked Fars news agency said several police officers were also wounded in the bus attack and had been hospitalised.

The Gonabadis are one of the country’s largest Sufi sects, originating from Khorasan Razavi province in the country’s northeast, but with a presence in cities across Iran.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2018