Gunmen who opened fire at a shopping centre in Iran have killed at least five people including a 10-year-old boy and wounded 15 others, it has emerged.

Two men on motorcycles using military grade AK-47 assault rifles gunned down shoppers and security guards at the mall in the southern Iranian city of Izeh in the late afternoon on 16th November.

The gunmen struck while anti-hijab protests were taking place in another part of the city, report local media.

Khuzestan province’s deputy police commander Valiullah Hayati: “Five people have so far been martyred in Izeh city and a number of security forces were injured.

“Attempts are underway to arrest the attackers.”

The dead included a child named as 10-year-old Kian Pirflak as well as three women and a man and some reports also say that two members of Iran’s volunteer Basij militia were among those killed.

There are also reports that there are likely to be more dead given the serious condition of some of the wounded.

At demonstrations in other parts of the city, protesters chanted anti-government slogans and reportedly threw rocks at police who had been firing teargas to disperse them.

At the same time as the shooting was taking place, a religious seminary in the city was also set on fire, although the extent of the damage has not yet been revealed.

Another of those who died was identified as 43-year-old Ashraf Nikbakht.

And another victim named Artin Rahmani had reportedly posted on Facebook shortly before he died the message saying: “This land has no use for me, so I will leave it.”

The shooting comes amid months of protest in Iran over the death in custody of a 22-year-old young woman who was arrested by the country’s morality police for failing to wear the hijab properly.

It has become the biggest challenge to the Iranian clerical regime since previous massive protests in 2009.

In the current wave of dissent around 384 people have been killed including many children and thousands of others injured or arrested, according to independent estimates.