12 Kurdish youngsters were arrested on April 15 in the town of Bradost in Hewler (Erbil) countryside in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq).

The mass arrest took place on the same day the Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey.

Eyewitnesses report that the young locals were tortured by Turkish forces and had their horses slaughtered.

The detained locals are reported to come from the villages of Dila, Malmaluk and Midan in Hewler’s Soran district.

The only official statement came from the governor of Hewler, Umed Hoshnav, on April 16, Saturday.

Hoshnav stated, “The Foreign Department of the Regional Government is in contact with Turkish officials on the matter and conducting an investigation regarding the detention of locals. There is no reason for the repression of civilians in the region.”