President Barzani Urges Justice for Kurdish Woman Raped Allegedly by Shia Militias in Kirkuk

ARK News.. The regional government of Kurdistan and the federal government of Iraq are needed to work together and investigate into the sexual assault against a Kurdish woman allegedly by a group of Hashd al-Shaabi militias and members of Iraqi federal police, Kurdish prominent leader and the president of the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Masoud Barzani, said on Friday.

The appeal came after media reports revealed that a Kurdish woman, with disabilities, was raped in the disputed Kurdish town of Pirde, in Kirkuk province.

“I ask the federal and regional governments to conduct a joint investigation into this heinous crime, and bring the perpetrators to justice,” Barzani wrote in an urgent statement.

The Kurdish leader criticized the “imposed military rule” by the Iraqi government in the areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad for decades.

This military rule has worked to deny the Kurds in Kirkuk their rights since the beginning, Barzani added, noting that no one should believe that they would be able to get away with such a crime without punishment.

“This assault was against not only the people of Kirkuk, but the entire Kurdish nation.”

Pirde is a small town south of Erbil. It has been under the control of the Iraqi forces, mainly the Shia militias of Hashd al-Shaabi, since October 2017 when Iraq carried out a massive military campaign to push the Kurds out of Kirkuk in retaliation for an earlier independence referendum.

Source: BasNews

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