At least 76 people have been killed so far in protests that have rocked Iran after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in custody of the hijab-enforcing morality police, the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) reported.  

The IHR says it has documented the toll based on death certificates, verified family and witness accounts, and other pieces of evidence on the ground. All the victims, according to the report, were killed after direct gunfire from security forces as the protests morphed into wider anti-government protests, with demonstrators calling for the downfall of the Islamic Republic and the departure of its leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.  

The IHA noted that the real tally could still be way higher, citing a government-imposed, near-total internet shutdown that has all but blocked the flow of information into the outside world.  

The government's official toll stood at 41 and included several police and paramilitary forces. Provincial officials have also offered separate statistics on arrests of hundreds in their own areas. Among those detained are at least 20 journalists, including Niloufar Hamedi, one of the reporters who highlighted Mahsa's case when she slipped into a coma.