An ophthalmologist in Tehran reported over 400 eye injuries from gunshots in a single hospital. Medical staff are overwhelmed as security forces crackdown violently on nationwide protests in Iran. Doctors said most injuries are to protesters' eyes and heads, a tactic used during the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom protests. One doctor said, "[Security forces] are deliberately shooting at the head and the eyes. They want to damage the head and the eyes so they can no longer see, the same thing they did in [2022]." Many patients have had to have their eyes removed and are blind. The protests began on 28 December after a sudden fall in Iran's currency value. Tens of thousands protest nightly, chanting slogans like "death to the dictator," targeting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Authorities cut off internet and mobile access on Thursday, isolating Iranians from the world. Rights groups accuse the government of using the blackout to intensify its brutal crackdown. More than 2,000 people have died, mostly protesters, with over 16,700 arrested, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). This death toll is four times higher than during the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests. Doctors suspect the real numbers are much higher. After the internet shutdown, hospitals faced a sharp increase in wounded protesters. One Tehran doctor described the scene: "It's like in the war movies where you see the injured soldiers getting treated on the open field. We don't have blood, we don't have enough medical supplies. It's like a war zone." Another doctor treated injured protesters outside in freezing weather due to hospital space shortages. Medical workers struggled as network cuts stopped communication. Security forces occasionally entered hospitals to arrest injured protesters. Doctors confirmed the injuries suggest deliberate targeting of eyes. Authorities used shotguns firing metal pellets and rifles with live ammo. "Eyes were hit by birdshot pellets and it was deliberate, they are shooting to kill," said the doctor. They removed "20 pellets" from one protester. Protesters have also been shot in genitals, with at least one young girl in critical condition after a pelvic injury, said a US-based human rights spokesperson. The Iranian government blames protesters and foreign saboteurs for the violence. It showed videos of protesters attacking police and militants killing officials. At least 135 government-affiliated people have died. Protesters who bypassed the blackout say security forces target peaceful demonstrators. A 20-year-old protester described plainclothes killers shooting from behind, hitting heads directly. Videos show severe bloodshed and wounded protesters collapsing. Despite this, protests entered their 17th day with thousands still joining nightly. Doctors warn the international media vastly underreports the crisis. A physician who left Iran said, "The images and data broadcast by the international media do not represent even one percent of the reality." They called the situation a "mass-casualty" event, with hospitals overwhelmed by injured patients.