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Iran
- Iranian forces killed two Kurdish border porters known as Kolbars and wounded four last week. On Tuesday, Iranian border guards attacked a group of Kolbars near Oshnavieh (Shinno) and killed a 32-year-old Kurdish man named Mohamadi Hamizada. Last Wednesday, Iranian security forces ambushed a formation of Kolbars near Sardasht and wounded one. Also, on Wednesday, Iranian guards shot a Kolbar in the leg while he was transporting goods in Urmia. On Sunday, Iranian forces shot and severely wounded a Kolbar near Khoy. Additionally, on August 25, Iranian security forces killed a Kolbar near Baneh. Iranian authorities have killed 51 Kolbars and wounded over 100 since the beginning of 2019.
- The Iranian regime arrested more Kurdish activists in Sanandaj last week. On Tuesday, Iranian intelligence officers (Ettela’at) raided the home of a Kurdish activist named Mohsin Saedpour, detained him, and confiscated his personal belongings. Also, on Tuesday, Ettela’at arrested Akbar Gawili, a Kurdish political activist and former political prisoner. According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Association (KMMK), Gawili was arrested upon his return from Tehran and informed his family he was being taken into Ettela’at custody. 270 Kurds, mostly activists, have been detained by the Iranian regime in 2019 thus far.
- Iranian security forces detained three Kurds visiting Damavand city for wearing traditional Kurdish attire. The three Kurdish tourists, all from Sanandaj, were accused of “spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic.”
Iraq
- Additional ISIS (Da’esh) attacks in the Daquq District of Kirkuk killed seven civilians and wounded six on Sunday. The Da’esh operation began with a mortar attack on Zain Al Abidin village, whose residents are mostly Shiite Turkmen. The indirect fire attack targeted a small soccer field and was followed by several IED explosions. The recent attacks on Daquq came after weekly attacks on Kurdish villages in the district forced residents to flee their homes.
- The Turkish military incursion targeting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) headquarters inside Iraqi Kurdistan continued last week, with airstrikes targeting areas near Zakho and Akre. Meanwhile, the Turkish military announced a new phase of the campaign named “Operation Claw-3.” Since May 2019, tens of civilians have been killed by Turkish military operations inside the Kurdistan Region while thousands remain displaced from their villages.
- The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) officially announced Jafar Mustfa Ali (Sheikh Jafar) as its nominee for Second Vice President of Iraqi Kurdistan while the Change Party (Gorran) settled on Mustafa Saed Qaidi as their choice for Vice President of Iraqi Kurdistan. Both names are awaiting a presidential decree from the current President of Iraqi Kurdistan Naichvean Barzani to assume office. Meanwhile, the PUK and the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (KDP) held a meeting to discuss Kurdistan Regional Government vacancies and reach agreements on their distribution.
Syria
- After the U.S-Turkish agreement to establish a so-called “safe zone” between the Kurdish region of Syria and Turkey, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) General Commander Mazloum Abdi expressed support for the implementation of the plan. “We will strive to ensure the success of (US) efforts toward implementing the understanding … with the Turkish state,” said Abdi. The agreement is supposed to be implemented soon, as a U.S. delegation recently traveled to Turkey to set up a joint operations room in Ankara. The region’s populace opposes any Turkish invasion and the council of Tel Abyad(Geri Spi) announced their rejection of Turkish threats to invade the town last week.
- On Monday evening, a car bomb exploded near a church in al Tabqa city. The explosion killed one civilian and injured nine. SDF personnel managed to seize another car bomb in al Taqba prior to its detonation. Al Tabqa is a suburban town of al Raqqa, the former capital of the Da’esh “Caliphate.” Concurrently, the SDF announced the death of one Da’esh operative and the capture of another during an operation targeting terror cells in a village in Deir Ez Zor province. The SDF has been combating Da’esh terror cells since the physical defeat of “Caliphate” to counter the increasing number of attacks in the region.
- The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) transferred four children of German Da’esh members from the al Hol refugee camp to German custody following a meeting with a representative from Germany’s Federal Foreign Office. Thousands of European children and adults who lived under the Da’esh “Caliphate” remain in AANES custody. AANES has called on the international community to take back their citizens, as their continued detention strains the region’s resources and offers Da’esh additional recruiting opportunities.
Turkey
- Kurdish citizens and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) continued to protest the removal of the elected Kurdish mayors of three major cities. Turkish police arrested more Kurds, including politicians, last week and continued attacks on protesters in Van, Mardin, and Diyarbakir. Simultaneously, the Turkish Police Special Operations Department detained the Kurdish politician Selim Sadak in Diyarbakir (Amed). Around 500 people have been arrested since August 19. Meanwhile, a delegation of the HDP headed by the co-chair Sezai Temelli visited the opposition leader of the Republican Party (CHP) Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu to discuss the ongoing situation. The CHP denounced the removal of the Kurdish mayors but chose not to take to the streets.
- Turkey’s Ministry of the Interior dismissed eight HDP council members from the municipalities of Tusba, Edremit, and Chaldiran. The decision came after Van’s metropolitan mayor was replaced with a government appointed trustee.