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Turkey (Bakur or North of Kurdistan)
- HDP Co-President Selahattin Demirtaş visited the vigil for imprisoned academics in Bakırköy Women’s Closed Prison and stated that the AKP transformed into a perverted cult that has been bombarding mosques and massacring civilians. Demirtaş criticized the imprisonment of 4 academicians because of their signatures in a peace petition, and called upon Turkish society to raise its voice for peace.
- Reporters without Borders released the 2016 World Press Freedom Index. According to the report released in Washington D.C., Turkey came in at #151 among 180 countries. Falling back two more spots, Turkey was classified among countries that are difficult for journalism.
- Around 100 people from Lice have headed to the operation area as human shields against the intense bombing that started immediately after a “curfew” was declared in 10 villages in Amed’s Silvan district. The human shields heading to Şêlima and Hindês under bombardment with fighter jets have arrived in Zarê village between Lice and Silvan despite attempts at stopping them.
Syria (Rojava or West of Kurdistan)
- Clashed broke out between Syrian regime forces and Rojava public security in Qamishlo. Dîfa Wetenî (paramilitary forces) allied to the Regime arrested 2 YPG fighters and took them to Damascus on April 19. The following day, 2 Qamishlo Asayish members were killed as a result of the attacks to which Asayîş forces returned fire. As clashes between two sides spread to areas held by the regime, local units of the YPG (People’s Defense Units) also got involved the fighting.
- In a press conference on the clashes that broke out between Asayish/YPG forces and regime militias in Qamishlo and the recent ceasefire, Kenan Berekat stated that the areas in the city liberated by Democratic Self-Administration Forces would not be returned to the regime.
- Subsequent to the heavy shelling led by Islamist rebels on the Kurdish neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsoud in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo, a relative calm prevailed in the area before the regime’s air force renewed airstrikes on the neighborhood and kill dozens of civilians, local sources reported on Monday.
Iraq (Bashur or South of Kurdistan)
- Heavy clashes broke out between Peshmerga and the Shia militias in Duz Khurmatu on Sunday. According to reports of local sources, violent clashes between peshmerga forces affiliated to PUK commander Mahmut Sengavi and Hızbi Dawa forces within the Shia militia of Heshd al Shebi erupted at 00:30 and continue non-stop since. As the fighting spreads to larger areas in the town, heavy weaponry is also used in clashes since earlier this morning leaving casualties in civilians.
- A number of Kurdish drivers have been kidnapped by some Public Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Am Amerli sub-district on Sunday. According to a PUKmedia correspondent in Amerli, the PMF started random arrest and kidnapping operations against civilians near Amerli. Among the captured were a number of Kurd drivers whose fate is yet unknown.
- Today April 21, 2016 at 11 am, the Turkish military warplanes bombed Uraian village in Kurdistan region of Iraq. That village administratively related to Kani Maci sub-district in Dohuk governorate. The warplanes were bombing the village for an hour but information about the villages financial damages has still not been released.
Iran (Rojhelat or East of Kurdistan)
- The general health condition of Afshin Sohrabzadeh, political prisoner, who suffers from cancer and has been exiled to Minab prison and has sewn his lips and gone on hunger strike to protest the denial of medical leave, since April 12th, is reported to be critical.
- According to the Religious Affairs Office in Kurdistan province, the trustees of mosques have no right to Dismissal and Employment of the prayers or hold Koran classes without the approval of the Great Islamic Center. The Great Islamic Center deals with Sunni people’s religious affairs and is a governmental institution that operates under the supervision of representatives of the Supreme Leader.
- Mohammad Nazari, political prisoner of Rajaei Shahr prison, who is serving his 22ndyear, has had no furlough and proper medical treatment for unclear bureaucratic reasons so far. He was arrested on charge of cooperation with one of the Kurdistan opposition parties in Boukan in 1994, and sentenced to life time prison, in a very ambiguous trial.