KDP's asayish (public security) forces detained journalist İbrahim Abbas during a raid on his flat in Hewler city at around 01:30 last night.

In a Facebook post before his detention, journalist Abbas wrote: “My house is surrounded by asayish forces of the KDP. Help. Besides me, my children that will take an exam tomorrow are also targeted.”

Abbas, who was taken into custody on World Press Freedom Day, stated in his post that reason for his detention was an article he wrote on İdris Barzani and published on Facebook.

While it is not known where the journalist was taken, journalists in Southern Kurdistan have started a campaign on social media demanding "Freedom for Ibrahim Ebas".

The KDP-controlled Duhok-Zakho-Hewler line comes up often with reports of murder, torture and arrest of journalists. On August 13, 2016 South Kurdistan-based Roj News Agency (RojNews) Duhok reporter Wedat Hisên Elî and on December 2, 2016 KNN (Kurdish News Network) TV correspondent Şûkrî Zeynedin were kidnapped in Duhok, and both were tortured to death.