In recent weeks, the governments in the autonomous regions of Syrian and Iraqi Kurdistan have been targeting journalists working for TV channels linked to rival political parties. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the authorities in the two Kurdistans to stop sacrificing media pluralism to political rivalry.
“We don’t know where our children are,” one resident of Ranya told the Morning Star.
“We want to know they are safe but our people are being tortured and forced to sign statements for things they haven’t done.
“The government is killing people. It cannot go on like this. We want them out.”
As many as 400, mainly young people, are believed to have been hauled in during protests that have swept northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region over the past week.
At least 10 were arrested in Qasre in Erbil province earlier this week after holding a small protest.
SCORES of protesters were detained along with former MPs and journalists in the northern Iraqi city of Slemani today as security forces fired on an anti-government demonstration.
With the Kurdish uprising continuing to spread, military vehicles prowled the city’s streets and heavily armed militiamen were deployed in a show of force as large crowds formed in defiance of a ban on unauthorised demonstrations.
Live bullets and tear gas were fired to disperse those gathered in Slemani’s crowded bazaar, while security personnel also opened fire on protesters in the city of Kalar.
At least nine people have been shot dead, including two children, as unrest sweeps Iraqi Kurdistan.
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