Death of a Duty Lieutenant in Baneh Due to 'Shooting by Unknown Individuals'

The police commander of Baneh County in Kurdistan Province announced that a duty lieutenant named Yasin Khadiji, from the 'Sabdiloy' police station in Baneh, was killed on Sunday, May 8, as a result of 'shooting by unknown individuals'. According to the Kurdistan Broadcasting website, Hamidreza Akbari, the police commander, stated that this police officer was injured while controlling passing vehicles on the Baneh-Saqez road and died after being transferred to the hospital. Meanwhile, the state news agency IRNA reported that the body of this police officer was buried with the presence of the police commander of Kurdistan Province and officials from Baneh. Additionally, the 'Farhat' website published a statement attributed to the 'Women's Defense Forces of Eastern Kurdistan, H.P.J.', a subgroup of PJAK, claiming that their forces attacked a police checkpoint on the Saqez-Baneh road on the evening of May 9, resulting in the death of 'two' officers and 'one' officer being injured. The 'Women's Defense Forces of Eastern Kurdistan, H.P.J.' condemned what they referred to as the 'murder' of Farinaz Khosrowani in Mahabad, emphasizing that this attack was intended as a 'warning' to the Islamic Republic of Iran due to its actions 'against women'. Following the death of Farinaz Khosrowani, an employee at the Tara Hotel in Mahabad, several local websites and social media pages claimed that she jumped from a window to prevent a sexual assault by a 'security officer'. Iranian judicial and government officials announced the arrest of the suspect in this incident but denied any connection to security agencies and dismissed 'any rumors regarding the assault on the deceased'. Meanwhile, Samad Hazrati, the head of the judiciary in Mahabad, emphasized on Tuesday that 'the deceased and the suspect intended to marry each other, and that day, she went to the suspect's room with prior coordination to discuss their marriage'. Hazrati suggested that the deceased might have hidden her relationship with the suspect out of fear of the hotel manager and potential dismissal, adding that 'the suspect was also arrested on charges of being alone with a non-mahram'. Following the death of Farinaz Khosrowani, Mahabad witnessed unrest on Thursday, May 5, and the Tara Hotel was set on fire. In this context, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the Minister of Interior, announced on Tuesday the dispatch of an inspection team to investigate 'all aspects of the Mahabad incident', stating that 21 police personnel were 'injured during this incident, but no action was taken'. Three days prior to the Minister's statements, Alireza Radfar, the political-security deputy of West Azerbaijan Province, stated that following the unrest in Mahabad, 25 people were injured, including seven police officers. In this regard, Amnesty International called for police restraint against 'Kurdish' protesters.