Security forces have arrested at least six more Kurdish civilians and activists in recent days, bringing the total number of detainees to 27 in the past week, most of them linked to the general strike in Kurdish cities against the death sentences of Kurdish political prisoners.

Additionally, the Ministry of Intelligence has summoned and interrogated two activists in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province.

The strike, which took place on 22 January following a call by Kurdish political parties for a general strike to protest against the death sentences of Pakhshan Azizi, Verisheh (Wirishe) Moradi and other political prisoners, saw widespread closures in several cities in Kurdistan.

On 22 January, Karo Alidad, an environmental activist from Marivan, Kurdistan Province, was arrested at his workplace in the Molavi shopping centre in the city and taken to an undisclosed location.

On 23 January, security forces arrested Kamal Akherati, a civilian, without a warrant at his workplace in Sanandaj.

On the same day, Ministry of Intelligence agents raided the workplace of Milad Rendani, a civil rights activist and photographer from Saqqez, Kurdistan Province, arrested him and confiscated the memory of CCTV cameras.

Nariman Rendani, Milad’s brother, was also arrested by intelligence agents on the evening of 22 January.

The arrests of the brothers, who were then taken to undisclosed locations, are reportedly linked to the 22 January general strike.

Additionally, Avareh Shakhshi, a civilian from Rabat, Sardasht County, West Azerbaijan Province, was also arrested by the agents of the Ministry of Intelligence on a street in the city and taken to an undisclosed location.

In a continuation of the crackdown, Jalil Mohammadi, a labour activist and former political prisoner from Sanandaj, was arrested without a warrant by the Ministry of Intelligence during a raid on his home in the city on 23 January and taken to the ministry’s detention centre.

In recent years, Mohammadi has been repeatedly summoned and arrested by the security services for his labour and trade union activities.

At the same time, two other labour activists, Faranak Rafiei and Rafigh Karimi, were summoned to the office of the Ministry of Intelligence in Sanandaj, where they were interrogated for several hours.

It is reported that these summonses are also related to the recent general strike.