Today, Zakho Police Department said in a statement that the body of a 45-year-old woman was found in the Darkari district of Zakho today. He said the woman was stabbed to death, and they have opened an investigation into the incident.

The body of a 45-year-old man was found in the Dinarta district of Akre today, the police said. According to the Akre authorities, the murdered man is a married Peshmerga, and his death is still unknown, and they have sent his body to Duhok for forensic examination.

In September, the KRG Interior Minister linked the rise of crime to poor Judiciary-law enforcement cooperation, as crime rises.

Today, Thursday, Kurdistan Regional Government Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani made public the non-oil financial revenues of Kurdistan region's Halabja and Sulaimani provinces as Erbil continues to withhold their funds since October.

"Today, I announce an important project which is Shafafiat [transparency], transparency in non-petroleum returns, to make public all non-oil revenues of Sulaimani and Halabja provinces; the project is an effort by my team and me and the KRG ministry of finance," Talabani said.

The DPM noted that we closely monitor and record all cash going to the public coffers in Sulaimani and Halabja governorates.

The initiative helps to bust all the rumors about public revenues in Sulaimani disappearing and that Sulaimani Banks are robbed, Talabani, explained. The website also lays to rest the widely popular ideas that traffic from Sulaimani and Halabja border crossing disappears before reaching public coffers.

The financial revenues are all available on shafafiat.com in Kurdish. Shafafiat means transparency as the website displays revenues from the two governorates' different treasuries, updated daily. The website also lists the taxes and tariffs collected in the two provinces.

According to the website, today's total revenues of Sulaimani and Halabja added up to $1,769,248 US, roughly $50 ml US adjusted for fluctuations in daily revenues. Though the revenues would only cover a fraction of the Sulaimani and Halabja total spending, that is around $300 ml US, according to unofficial figures.

"You learn it as well" was a promotion of the disclosure in advertisements that ran on billboards throughout Sulaimani and Halabja. You Know It As Well is the slogan of the initiative, making Sulaimani and Halabja revenues transparent as the first province in the Kurdistan region and Iraq.

For long, Erbil has argued that Sulaimani should fund Sulaimani, as PUK President Talabani said in an interview with the Iraq Oil Report. Erbil is bound by law to distribute revenue from the Kurdistan region coffers equally; however, for the past two months, Erbil has withheld most funds from Sulaimani, and hospitals, among other public institutions, find it difficult to acquire medicine. 

Kamran Osman, a member of the Iraqi Kurdistan's US-based Community Peacemakers Teams (CPT), told KurdSat English, according to their figures, Turkish and Iranian shillings have left claimed lives 150 people from the Kurdistan region and injured 250 others since august 2015.

The CPT member noted that they had met Baghdad officials to compensate the wounded and relatives of the martyrs; on the Iraqi Justice Minister Khalid Shuani and Council of Minister's recommendations, they have gathered data on the number of Kurdistan region bombing victims.

We have begun the process of collecting the data of bombing victims and would conclude our findings in four months, Osman explained.

Turkey maintains over 150 military outposts, checkpoints, and airbases in the Kurdistan region, while it frequently bombs the region using drones and military aircraft that often claim civilian lives. Also, Iran has recently mounted attacks on the Kurdistan region, deploying Kamikaze drones and ballistic missiles that have killed dozens and displaced hundreds.

Today, Wednesday, Iraqi First Lady Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmad said on her Facebook page, "I received a United Kurdish Women's Platform delegation to form an umbrella group and a general women's platform across the greater Kurdistan." The greater Kurdistan region covers large parts of Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria.

Iraqi First Lady Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmad, in Sulaimani, received a delegation with the United Kurdish Women's Platform (UKWP) and said, "today said that women should struggle with more strength and a stronger will."

The First Lady and the UKWP delegation led by Nuran Imir stressed the importance of joining efforts to combat violence against women and a range of issues facing women in the greater Kurdistan and promoting relations between Kurdish women across the Middle East. Many barriers, including political and geographic borders, have separated Kurdish women for centuries. The recent effort could help to break the centuries-old barriers for the betterment of women in the greater Kurdistan.

According to the statement from the First Lady's press office, "the first lady discussed the ideas and plans of the delegation to form an all-inclusive umbrella and platform for women of greater Kurdistan, expressing her support and offering her advice to the delegation to the success of their project. The initiative would be the first in its scale and scope in the region. 

The first lady reiterated the importance of Kurdish women's unity. She also pointed to her efforts in strengthening women's roles and uniting women, per the statement. 

Activists, academics and parliamentarians from North Kurdistan or Turkey made up the UKWP delegation, and called on women in different regions of greater Kurdish to be aware of political affairs and each other's conditions and join their efforts to face challenges.

The Kurdish women from Turkey spoke of the importance of the first lady's support to the success of their efforts. They called her an influential and capable Kurdish woman whose visible impact serves women and the Kurds.

Division has usually been at the forefront of Kurdish politics and intra-Kurdish ties; the recent step marks a milestone in the history of Kurds and the history of women across the greater Kurdistan and the world.

Today, after serving two years in prison and several release postponements, the five remaining Badinan inmates from Shiladze were set free.

Head of the team of volunteer lawyers defending the Badinan prisoners, Bashdar Hassan, told KurdSat English that five prisoners from Shiladze, including Amjad Rekani, Yousef Sharif, Kovan Tariq, Mahmoud Naji, and Nechirvan Badie, were released in the Erbil Security Forces (Asaysh) headquarters. The prisoners served two years in an Erbil prison before being transferred to Erbil Asaysh shortly before their release.

In a press conference yesterday, one of the Badinan detainee’s lawyers told reporters that “they were initially detained by the Duhok General Directorate of Security forces, and were later transferred to Kurdistan region general directorate of security forces in Erbil and need to return there to finalize their release.”   

KurdSat reporter in Erbil Halgurd Ahmed explained that the prisoners were transferred from Erbil Correctional Center to Erbil Asaysh awaiting their release, as Asaysh has to process their release paperwork, despite the court’s decision that already set the prisoners free. 

Regarding the imprisonment of the Shiladze prisoners without due process for one and half years, the lawyer said that they were sentenced to two years and served only six months because of the time they spent in Asaysh custody.

On May 16, 2021, five prisoners in Shiladze were sentenced to two years in prison on charges of collaborating with the PKK and organizing demonstrations against the Kurdistan region.

Today, Wednesday, an official from the Sulaimani's Ranya Mayorship joint committee that is made up of the security forces, medical teams, and inspectors, told KurdSat English that “Ranya Security (Asaysh) notified us of Ana Factory’s intention to ship loads of pickles, and specialized teams took a sample of the pickle, and found out that they were expired and covered with mold, making it inedible.”

"The factory had almost 70 tons of expired pickle," the official added. The pickles were stored in plastic barrels.

"The factory tried to ship the pickle to Erbil, and per our regulations, any food shipment that leaves our administrative boundaries would be checked before it can leave," the Ranya official said.

Another official with the Ranya joint committee to monitor safety regulations said, “the factory owner told us of his plan to move the pickles out, and we tested that it was expired and needed to be destroyed.”

Expired food products are common in the Kurdistan region, as food monitoring is scarce since every time a team leaves to check for expired food find loads of contaminated edibles. 

A barrel of pickle covered with mold found at a factory in Ranya, Sulaimani

Today, KurdSat reporter in Tehran Saman Soleimani reported the death of celebrated Kurdish graphic artist Bahzad Gharib. "He is a renowned graphic artist and illustrator from a well-known Sanandaj artist family, he is based in Tehran but frequented overseas for medical purposes," the reporter added.

Playwright Behrouz Gharibpour, brother of Behrouz Gharibpour, announced his brother's passing and said, "Our dear brother, Behzad, an internationally renowned graphic artist and illustrator, left us like a bird; his place will remain empty forever."

Another of Bahzad's brothers wrote, "Behzad Gharibpour, my brother, teacher, and soulmate, last night went to visit his friends in the sky; his kind soul shines."

Behzad Gharibpour was born in the Kurdish city of Sanandaj in 1957, two years before the Islamic Revolution. Gharibpour is a Tehran University Fine Arts Department graduate who later pursued his dreams in Iran. He worked in the field of illustration, graphic design, and advertising until 2014. The visual artist also taught at the College of Fine Arts.

Gharibpour is the winner of many Iranian and International awards. He has twice won the "Noma" prize for illustrating a book called "Raz Parandeh" in 1988 and the design of another book, "Black Panther" in 1994.

In 2017 he was named the best graphic artist in Iran for his excellent works during the years.

Some graphic arts by Behzad Gharibpour

A queen chasing her crown

Woman having a bird cage on her head

A mouth is running on a well dressed cat's hat

Following the release of Shiladze prisoners from Erbil Security (Asaysh) head of the team of lawyers voluntarily defending the prisoner, Bashdar Hassan, told KurdSat English, "For three days after the court freed the prisoners, Erbil General Security has detained the prisoners for various excuses." The prisoners were released today in the custody of Erbil General Security, and what they do is, unfortunately, a breach of law."

"We were to meet with the released activists but were threatened by Erbil security of even meeting with their lawyers, and the activists were immediately transferred to Duhok," Hassan added.

The head lawyers also said, "the released activists told us that Erbil Asaysh told them not to comment to any media outlet or share their stories on Facebook."

The Shildaze prisoners were detained in Duhok on charges of collaborating with the PKK and organizations ani-KRG protests in Duhok's Shiladze subdistrict in May 2022. After serving two years in prison, they were set free three days ago but held in the custody of the Erbil General Directorate of Security, which released them today. 

Today, Tuesday, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said in a statement “The operations resulted in arresting one of the ISIS emirs along with two other terrorists who were responsible for supplying the terrorist cells with weapons and ammunition in an attempt to target the prisons and al-Hol camp.” The camp houses thousands of ISIS family members and former ISIS officials.

"In conjunction with the aggressions of the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries on the regions of NE Syria, the ISIS terrorist cells were active, attempting to attack various areas, including Deir Ezzor, al-Hol, and Tal Hamis, taking advantage of the Turkish aggressions," the SDF press center added. Turkey has threatened a large-scale ground invasion in Rojava, similar to that of Russia and Ukraine, an invasion that the US and its allies have warned could help ISIS regroup.

The SDF press center published a video of SDF anti-terror unit raiding a house where the terrorists stayed. The special forces also seized a large number of weapons and ammunitions. The SDF revealed the location of the ISIS terrorists in the statement. "The operations were conducted in the town of the al-Hol, Tal Hamis, and Deir Ezzor, from the seventh to the tenth of this month," per SDF press.

The SDF has spearheaded the fight against ISIS in Norther Eastern Syria and have formed one of the most democratic polities in the world, where woman lead in peaceful democratic ways.

Members of the SDF anti-terror unit before conducting the operations to capture an ISIS leader and two other terrorists 

Iraqi Interior Minister Abdul Amir Shamari and a high-level military delegation met with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Interior Minister Rebar Ahmed and the Commander of the Kurdistan region border guard to reorganize guards on Iraqi borders with Iran and Turkey. The Iraqi borders with Iran and Turkey have been subject to numerous incursions.

Following the high-level military meeting, the Commander of the Kurdistan Region Border Guards told reporters in a televised press conference that following six months of talks, Baghdad and Erbil reached a deal to form two regimes for the first and second Iraqi Border Guard Brigades. 

“The to be regimes would be deployed in void areas on the Iraqi borders with Iran and Turkey,” the Commander noted. 

The two regimes would be recruited from local Kurds, and each regiment would enlist up to 700 personnel, KurdSat’s Aso Ahmed said. 

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Iraqi government have agreed to increase security on the Iran-KRG border and establish two regimes to guard the borders.

The two sides agreed to establish two regimes of border guards and provide all military equipment to reorganize and control the Iraqi borders with Turkey and Iran.

Two of the three Iraqi Border Guard brigades are positioned on borders of the Kurdistan region with Iran, Turkey, and Syria; they are made of local Kurds and commanded by a Kurdish commander, KurdSat’s Aso Ahmed said. The other brigade is deployed to secure the rest of the Iraqi-Iranian border to the south and Iraq-Saudi border.

PUK MP in the Iraqi house of representatives and a member of the parament’s defense and security committee told KurdSat English that the deployment would not reduce the attacks by Iran and Turkey as they are done with drones and aircraft but to deprive Ankara and Tehran of any excuses that our border is porous to smuggles and armed personnel.

Iran and Turkey have increased their attacks on the Kurdistan region since the last year using drones and advanced missiles; the attacks usually claim civilian life and have displaced hundreds of people. Iran and Turkey cite the presence of Kurdish opposition groups based in the Kurdistan region as an excuse for their attacks.  

Iran security forces raided Kurdish preacher Saifula Hosseini’s home in Javanrud, breaking his wife’s arm and abducting Hosseini, Hengaw Human Rights reported. According to local sources, his wife was insulted and later taken to the hospital.

According to Hengaw presence of security forces was increased in Javanrud with internet and communication lines shut down.

Over a thousand people gathered before the Javanrud military base command, demanding the preacher’s release.

Iranian authorities have kidnapped hundreds of preachers and mullahs in Iranian Kurdistan and the rest of Iran, as they are an alternative authority to the Iranian regime as opposition to the government has reached its peak.

The move is desperate and surprising as the protesters and the government undermine religious people—the government abducts preachers, and protesters toss Mulla turbans on the streets. One of the demands of protests in the ongoing unrest is reduced religious people in government affairs. 

Carpet weaving was historically one of the most essential and revered cultural Kurdish activities. 

Kurdish weavings are diverse in their designs and structures and are usually attributed to specific tribes or geographical areas. After Sinne and Bijar, the third area in eastern Kurdistan, well known for its rugs, is Mahabad, also known as Saujbulagh rug in the Western markets.

In terms of range and intensity of color, autumnal oranges with soft blues, greens, and aubergine is a distinctive Kurdish palette of the Mahabad region. Some rugs have as many as fifteen colors, including terracotta, gold, turquoise and saffrons, giving them a "happy" upbeat coloration.

Mahabad rugs, like other Kurdish rugs, are woven with a symmetric knot, usually on a wool foundation. Later rugs from the beginning of the 19th century may have a cotton foundation. 

In 1911, orientalist George Griffin Lewis noted that "the nomadic life of the Kurds in former times enabled them to gather plants more easily and so they were able to obtain good vegetable dyes. Formerly also, the best wool only was used by the Kurds for making rugs, and the women chose only that which they knew would take the colors well."

The beauty of Mahabad designs is enriched by various symbols and motifs derived from the natural world and Kurdish mythology and other motifs shared with the surrounding cultures.

Mahabad rugs have mainly brown, red, yellow or blue as the background field color. The border is mainly decorated with the medachyl pattern, vine meander designs, lozenges, and "S" shaped motifs which are believed to be based on the Zoroastrian symbol of the sun; it is also considered a protective motif, meant to ward off against the evil eye. 

A variety of field motifs are used, most identified with this group is the "flaming palmette", also called "Kurdi palmette." However, stepped diamonds, tuning forks, floral lattice and lozenge designs are also often associated with the weavings of Mahabad.

Mahabad, "City of the Medes", is an important Kurdish cultural center and a symbol of Kurdish aspirations for sovereignty as it was the capital of the short-lived Republic of Mahabad in 1946.

Today, Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government Qubad Talabani condemned the terrorist attack on Duhok Security Force (Asaysh) Base in Duhok that killed a security officer and injured another.

"I strongly condemn the terrorist attack on the Eastern Security Base in Duhok province, which resulted in the martyrdom of one officer and the injury of another," Talabani said in the statement.

"This attack shows the conspiracy that the enemies of our people are planning to create chaos as they always try to achieve their dirty goals in the Kurdistan region," the DPM added.

Talabani also expressed his condolences to the victim's family and wished the injured a speedy recovery.        

Today, Monday, Sulaimani Police Department announced the arrest of a suspect on charges of deceiving people. "After several citizens filed a complaint against a suspect, fraudulently going to their shops and businesses under various pretexts to take money from them without the intention to return them, the suspect was arrested," the police explained in the statement. 

The Sulaimani Police Department posted a footage showing a market cashier lending money to the grifter.

The detained suspect is 34 years old and identified only in his initials, per the police. "The swindler has previous criminal records, and was previously charged with fraud and kidnapping people in Sulaimani," the police noted in a statement.

According to the authorities, the grifter confessed to the crime before the judge and is currently in police custody pending trail. 

Today, the head of the group of lawyers defending the Shiladze prisoners, Bashdar Hassan, told KurdSat English that five inmates, Yousef Sharif Ibrahim, Mahmoud Naji Sadiq, Kovan Tarq Jibril and Nechirvan Badi Haji, five prisoners from Badinan, will be released today, as they have served their two-year imprisonment sentences.

The release of many Shiladze "activists" has been delayed more than once. According to Hassan, Amjad Yousef Mustafa, another convict in Shiladze, is scheduled to be released tomorrow.

KurdSat English has learned that after 12 days in solitary confinement, Sherwan Sherwani was removed from solitary confinement. Shirwan Sherwani became the figurehead for the Badinan prisoners and was hailed as a freedom fighter when detained in 2020 for over a year without due process. 

The Duhok Security Force killed the gunman in the firefight.

Today, Monday, a gunman fired on the western headquarters of Duhok Security Force (Asaysh), leaving a security officer dead and another injured; the shooter was killed in the firefight, KurdSat reporter in Duhok Shirwan Qaidi said. The injured officer is in stable condition in the hospital. 

"There is a large presence of security forces around the Asaysh Western Headquarters, that was previously Duhok Security forces Headquarters," our reporter noted.

KurdSat English has learned that the gunman is from Mosul, although many people from Mosul live in Duhok city. The security forces did not comment on what the gunman was doing in Duhok. 

KurdSat English reached out for comment to Duhok authorities regarding the shooter's motives but declined to comment.

Azad Ibrahim Besfky, the Duhok security officer, killed in today's shooting