Security forces have arrested civilians Samira Ahmadi, Esmaeil Barkhordari, Kourosh Abdi and Omid Karimi in the cities of Saqqez and Divandarreh in Kurdistan Province in recent days and taken them to undisclosed locations.
This is part of a recent wave of arrests of Kurdish civilians and activists ahead of the anniversary of last year’s anti-government protests.
Ahmadi was arrested today without a court warrant while driving on Ferdowsi Street in Saqqez, while the other three civilians were detained in Divandarreh on 11 September.
Barkhordari, a taxi driver, and Abdi, an engineer employed at the Siazakh Dam wastewater treatment plant in Divandarreh, were both arrested without a warrant while at work.
Karimi was arrested after security forces raided his home in Divandarreh.
According to statistics compiled by the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN), a total of 46 Kurdish civilians and activists were arrested by security forces in Marivan, Saqqez, Divandarreh, Baneh, Bukan and Oshnavieh this week alone.
