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

Today, Saturday, a Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) delegation from the House of Representatives met with the newly appointed Kirkuk Joint Operations Commander.

KurdSat English reporter in Kirkuk said the delegation discussed the recent tensions between Arab and Kurdish farmers in the disputed territories. Last week Kurdish and Arab farmers clashed with stones and sticks as Arab farmers tried to plow Kurdish-owned lots in Daquq’s Haftaghar area.

PUK MP in the Iraqi Parliament Karim Shukur told Kurdsat English that the commander of the joint operations in Kirkuk listened carefully to our concerns and promised to follow up on them.

"As I observed, the commander is willing to bring about peace and stability in the region and to coordinate with us to settle the disputes,” Shukur noted.

The 2017 Kurdistan region referendum led to the expulsion of Kurdistan region peshmerga from Kirkuk and the rest of the disputed territories, leading to a renewed phase of Arabization in the region. 

Currently, many Kurdish farmers are denied access to their farmlands, with some prevented from watering their crops, as Arabs claim ownership of their lands.

Today, Saturday, about 150 trees of different ages were cut down, Kani Mirani Baba Ali village in Penjwen district of Sulaimani province, Sulaimani Forest Guard department said in a statement on Facebook.

"The trees cut down were to clear land for agriculture," the Forest Guard said. Although, the logged trees were on a mountain unsuitable for farming, an environmental activist told KurdSat English. 

The Forest Guard added that the Penjwen Forest Guard seized the logs, and two people who cut the trees were summoned before a judge on charges of cutting down the trees. The department did not reveal the charges pressed against the perpetrators or the sentences they would face.

2022 has seen an increase in logging as fuel prices have increased and people turn to firewood to heat their homes, among other purposes.

The Oslo-based Hengaw Human Rights Group that reports on the unrest in Iranian Kurdistan, reported that following the three-days nation-wide general strike, 18 people were arrested in Shno (Oshnavieh) with security forces opening fire at closed businesses and shopkeepers.

Iranian security forces opened fire on business owners in Sanandaj’s Firdausi Street during the strike, the Rojhelat human rights watch dog reported.

The authorities have revoked licenses of business that joined the strike and took over their properties, per Hengaw. The general strike in Iranian Kurdish cities have stalled all business and brought normal life to a halt.

The strikes have become an active anti-government disobedience. People find it difficult to access basic services, prompting the authorities to increase their crackdown on the protesters.

Today, Sunday, Greece-based journalist Ranj Pishdari, told KurdSat English that 35 Kurdish migrants were stranded in French waters for more than three hours due to strong waves, but were rescued after reaching out to French authorities and NGOs. The migrants are now safe in French shelters, per Pishdari.

People from the Kurdistan region that migrate to Europe in search for a better life, usually call on Ranj Pishdari when they face problems.

Chwarta Mayor Shaho Osman told Kurdsat English that a surveillance drone flew over the v Spidara Village in the Zalan district last night. A warplane bombed the village but caused no casualties.

Also, yesterday, Turkish warplanes bombed the areas of Garwa Sanga and Barbzin Mountain in the Bradost borderland twice. Turkish warplanes continue to bombard areas in the region close to habitations.

Kurdsat English reporter noted that Turkish drones were hovering over Bradost for half an hour minute and later bombed the areas of Garwa Sanga and Barbzin Mountain twice. It is the third time in a week that Turkey has attacked the region.

He said the bombed areas were restricted zones. On Thursday, the Turkish army opened random fire on the villages of Khalifan and Siran.

The Counter-Terrorism Group (CTG) announced the arrest of a man who confessed to killing Azad Ahmed, a top Kirkuk student. The CTG published the Killer’s confession, who alleged to have murdered the 17-year-old student following an argument.

The murderer is a gun salesman from Sulaimani’s Chamchamal district, a thirty minutes drive from Kirkuk. “He reached out to me to purchase a gun and we agreed on a $230 gun, and [Ahmed] asked to deliver him the gun,” the perpetrator said in his televised confession. The gun dealer has a good online presence and uses social media to sell his firearms. 

The gun salesman said, when I arrived in Kirkuk to hand him the gun, I found out that he was a "just teenager with $800 US in his possession" and asked me to give him a ride to remote place to try the gun. Earlier stories surrounding his death claim that he was abducted, and later shot when he went to buy an Xbox in a Kirkuk bazaar. 

According to the Killer, when they went to test the gun, the man asked the teenager to hand him over the gun to show him how it is done, and when he does, the Killer points the pistol at him, forcing him to remove his clothes; Azad asks why and he says to film you for future ransoms; after Azad takes off his top, the teenager attacks the man, prompting the man to shoot him in the chest. "I shot him in the chest, and shot him in the head again, to make sure that he was dead," the Killer confessed in CTG custody.

Ahmed Azad died 11 days ago near Kirkuk’s Soma City with two shots in his body. He was one of the top students at the university of Kirkuk. Kurdistan Regional Government awarded Azad for his excellent academic achievements. News of his death rocked the Kurdistan region, and many demanded swift justice. 

Relatives and friends of Azad thanked the CTG and Asaysh forces for bringing to justice Azad's killer just after ten days, 

Kurdsat English reporter in Rojava said that Turkey targeted the villages of Miasa and Zrnaita in Afrin;s Sherawa subdistrict this morning.

Rojava media reported in just six days, Turkey targeted 14 towns and villages in the Zargan area in western Al-Hasakah with 87 artillery shells, leaving several casualties.

Turkey has been carrying out air strikes in northern and eastern Syria for two weeks, killing civilians, members of SDF and Syrian army soldiers, also leaving dozens of houses, schools, mosques and offices destroyed.

Sulaimani police arrested five people charged with robbing several jewelry shops in Sulaimani’s main bazaar, the suspects are women, and four of them are Arabs.

Sulaimani police arrested five suspects in connection with a theft in the gold market, police said, and they have confessed to the crime.

According to the police, the arrestees are women, four of whom are Arabs and have criminal records.

Jewelry robbing is not rare in the Kurdistan region. Women usually rob jewelers as they are the primary jewelry customers since Islam strictly prohibits men from wearing gold and many other jewelry pieces.  Women usually steal from such shops when they pretend to shop. 

The head of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Communities Board said that the attack on Kurdish farmers in Haftagar town is a repetition of Arabization, and the Iraqi and Kurdistan Regional Governments must urgently address the issue.

PUK Minorites Bureau Director Hasiba Abdullah said that the assault on Kurdish farmers in Haftagar in Kirkuk's Daquq noted that the purpose of occupying the Kurdish-owned farmland in the disputed territories continue the Arabization policy in Kirkuk, which the late Ba'ath regime adopted to distort the demographics of the province.

Earlier, some Arab farmers went to farm tracts of farmland that belonged to the Kurds, prompting the Kurds to attack the Arabs and forcing them to leave their lands. The Arabs ignored court rulings that proved the Kurdish ownership of the farmlands. In November, Kirkuk's Daquq Court of Appeal ruled the return of over 800 acres of land to Kurdish farmers in the area.

Abdullah noted that the director and the Kurdish leadership have a long-standing duty to address the issue, and the responsibility of the Kurdistan Regional Government is to investigate the dispute. Kurds face many difficulties in the Baghdad-controlled Kirkuk, as raising Kurdistan flag is banned and use of Kurdish language of advertisement billboards is prohibited. 

The PUK director explained that it is also the Federal Iraqi Government's primary duty to resolve the issue in accordance with the article of the constitution and the decisions of the High Committee for the Implementation of Article 140. PUK's efforts led to the revival of The High Committee after years of negligence.

The director said that the UN should intervene to solve the issue per the Iraqi constitution and explained that the silence of the Kirkuk administration over the past five years serves as support for the relocated Arabs in their attacks on Kurdish farmers to occupy their agricultural lots.

The head of the PUK's minatory board noted that Arabization feeds on the distortion of the long-standing relationship between the communities of Kirkuk. The director also warned Kirkuk governorate and the Iraqi government of their responsibilities to prevent a full-blown conflict from happening.

The 2017 Kurdistan region referendum led to the expulsion of Kurdistan region peshmerga from Kirkuk and the rest of the disputed territories, leading to a renewed phase of Arabization in the region. 

Earlier this week an online application form was open for people willing to serve in the Iraqi Border Guard Force, the guard’s website had crashed due to a rush of visitors, and a new application form would be launched soon, per the spokesperson. Last Tuesday, Iraqi Interior Ministry launched the application form but later removed it.

Earlier, Karwan Khoshnaw told KurdSat English there is a 12,000km-long border of Kurdistan region with Iran and Turkey, but had not recruited anyone for several years.   

Following intense Iranian and Turkish bombardments on the Kurdistan region, the Iraqi government, after talks with Iranian and Turkish governments decided to deploy Baghdad controlled Iraqi border guards in the Kurdistan region to create a buffer zone between Kurdish opposition groups based in the Kurdistan region and neighboring Iran and Turkey.

Although, Iraqi border guards were already positioned in the borders of the Kurdistan region, the current plan aims to increase their number to denied the groups contact with Iranian and Turkish borders, and reduce Turkish and Iranian incursions into the Iraqi federal region.