The city of Kassel is where the joint factories belonging to German arms giants Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rheinmetall, which produce weapons for oppressive regimes in many war zones of the world, from Kurdistan to Yemen, from Mexico to African countries, are located. On Friday morning, the “Disarm Rheinmetall” (Rheinmetall Entwaffnen) initiative carried out an anti-war civil disobedience action to protest the production and arms sales.

Workers could not enter the factories because activists had organised a road block since the early hours of the morning. The workers who got stuck at the activists' barricade were sent home by the police. Production stopped all day long in both factories.

Activists faced harsh intervention by the police forces. One activist was taken into custody. Towards noon, the activists held another demonstration in Industriepark Mittelfeld, where Rheinmetall's production center and administration are located.

Rheinmetall is Germany's largest arms manufacturer, said the activists, adding that it helps to escalate the wars in the world.

KMW, one of Germany's oldest arms giants, was the company that produced the most materials for the Nazi army during World War II. Leopard-II tanks, produced jointly by KMW with Rheinmetall, were sold to the Turkish state between 2006-2009. The Turkish state, on the other hand, did not comply with the sales agreements and used them in its occupation of Rojava Kurdistan.

With an annual turnover of around 1 Billion Euros, 1400 people work in the largest factory of KMW in Kassel.