Families of detained Kurdish citizens and activists are expressing growing concern for their loved ones after US and Israeli air strikes targeted intelligence and security centres across Kurdistan, damaging or destroying detention facilities where detainees were believed to be held.
Fighter jets have bombed most military and intelligence centres belonging to the Ministry of Intelligence and the Intelligence Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the region, destroying or severely damaging detention facilities located on their premises.
The fate of dozens of Kurdish detainees held in these facilities remains unknown, raising serious concerns about their safety.
Families of detainees in the cities of Ilam, Orumiyeh, Tehran and Kermanshah informed the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) that they had received no information about their loved ones arrested in recent months by forces affiliated with the IRGC Intelligence Organisation and the Ministry of Intelligence.
A family member of a citizen arrested around two months ago in Orumiyeh, who requested anonymity for security reasons, expressed concern over the detainee’s fate.
“Since the time of his arrest, we have had no information about his condition. Although before the war began the IRGC Intelligence Organisation in Orumiyeh had said that he was being held in one of the security detention facilities in the city, the bombing of the Al-Mahdi garrison, where several detention facilities of the IRGC Intelligence Organisation in Orumiyeh are also located, has increased our concern about his fate,” the family member said.
According to the same source, families have been unable to obtain information about detainees following the bombing of security and military institutions in Orumiyeh, and authorities have not responded to their enquiries.
A source in Mahabad reported that two civilians who were being held in the detention facility of the Ministry of Intelligence in the city were killed during the bombing of the security body on the evening of 2 March. Their identities remain unknown and the report has not yet been independently verified by KHRN.
Another source in Sanandaj stated that detainees who had been held in the Shahramfar detention facility of the IRGC Intelligence Organisation and the city’s Intelligence Ministry detention centre have been transferred to the quarantine ward of Sanandaj Central Prison.
The buildings of these two military-security institutions on Shebli and Abidar boulevards were bombed in recent days by US and Israeli fighter jets.
Sources in Kermanshah and Ilam also informed KHRN that several detainees had been transferred to the central prisons of these cities, where they are currently being held in quarantine sections with an uncertain legal status. Others have been moved to secret detention facilities operated by these security bodies.
Additionally, the family of a Kurdish citizen arrested in Tehran in recent weeks by security forces said they have received no information about his fate. According to the family, Tehran’s security and judicial authorities have stated that they have no information regarding his situation in response to their enquiries.
