Free Republic

Today the Islamic Republic placed tanks in central Mahabad. According to a Kurdish website tanks are moving into Mahabad. Mahabad is one of the most important places in Kurdish history. [More:] Pictures of tanks moving into the city have been placed on the kurdisch website ,www.mahabad.org. The army has surrounded the Kurdisch towns: Sne, Seqz, Sablax, Bane and Shno.

8/6/05 Amnesty International calls for an urgent investigation into the killing of demonstrators in Iran Amnesty International today expressed alarm at the cycle of violence in the Iranian province of Kordestan and neighbouring Kurdish areas, which has reportedly left up to 20 people dead, hundreds wounded. Hundreds of others are believed to have been arrested, including prominent Kurdish human rights defenders and activists. Amnesty International is urging the Iranian government to promptly initiate an urgent, impartial and independent investigation into these reports. The methods are findings of such an investigation must be made public. Officials suspected of responsibility for human...

Kurds in Iran's western city of Mahabad are rioting against the Iranian government after the torture and brutal death of activist, Shovaneh Ghaderi, at the hands of the police. Shovaneh was a member of the Revolutionary Union of Kurdistan. His crime evidently was to call for autonomy in Kurdistan. Reports are that Shovaneh was shot by police and tied to a car. He was dragged by the car to the police station, suffering severe lacerations. At the police station, he was allegedly tortured until he died. Shovaneh was 25-years old at the time of his murder. The police brutality came...

Clashes in Iran between people and Security Forces in first week of revolution anniversary Sun. 13 Feb 2005 Iran Focus Tehran, Feb. 13 - Thousands of people flooded the streets of Mahabad (northwest Kurdistan province in Iran) this morning, clashing violently with State Security Forces after days of gas, water, and electricity interruptions. According to local residents, household gas has been cut off in the town for the past four days, electricity has been out for more than 24 hours, and water was repeatedly cut off for several hours at a time over the past day. Protestors gathered in front...