ERBIL, Kurdistan Region –The Iraqi counter-terrorism service (ICTS) is in Nasiriyah on the instruction of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to rescue a pro-demonstration activist who was kidnapped late on Saturday.
Yehia Rasool, spokesperson for Kadhimi as Iraqi commander-in-chief, announced on Monday that Kadhimi has assigned the ICTS to send a unit to Nasiriyah to rescue activist Sajad al-Iraqi, and bring the kidnappers to face justice.
“The Iraqi Prime Minister and the Commander-in-Chief Mustafa al-Kadhimi directed the joint operation command to conduct immediate operations to search for the activist Sajad al-Iraqi,” Rasool tweeted on Monday.
“Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi assigned a unit of Iraqi counter terrorism forces to head to Dhi Qar province backed by the army's air force, to search and rescue the kidnapped activist Sajad al-Iraqi and bring the kidnappers to face justice,” he added.
Al-Iraqi was taken by unidentified assailants late on Saturday. Hours later, security forces were able to identify the general location of the activist in Nasiriyah city, according to Fuad Karim, the head of media at Dhi Qar police. department.
“The security and intelligence agencies were able to identify the location of the kidnapped, Sajad al-Iraqi, through tracking phone calls,” Karim told state media on Sunday.
The ICTS released a statement following Rasool’s tweet showing pictures of an ICTS convoy heading to Nasiriyah.
“Under the direction of the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, units from the Counter-Terrorism Service are heading to Dhi Qar province to rescue the kidnapped activist and bring the kidnappers to face justice,” it said on Monday.
Videos and photos circulating on social media following the abduction show protesters and activists demanding the release of the activist while blocking Nasiriyah’s main roads and bridges, as well as gathering in front of the governor’s office late Saturday.
Kadhimi placed a travel ban on the former chief of Dhi Qar's crisis cell, Jamil al-Shammari, who is accused of killing dozens of innocent protesters last November, according to an official spokesperson.
Iraqi activists have been warning of an increasingly threatening environment for those who speak out against the country's current political order. Many have faced assassinations and kidnappings since the start of the anti-government nationwide protest in Iraq’s central and southern part of the country on October 1.
Two Basra activists were assassinated in the space of one week in August, while several others activists in the city have survived attempts on their lives in recent weeks.
The widely-respected Iraqi security expert Husham al-Hashimi was shot dead by unknown assailants outside his home on July 6.
His assassins have yet to be identified.
The country has been rocked by widespread protests since October 2019, with demonstrators demanding basic services, jobs, and an end to state corruption.
When security forces and pro-Iran militias began attacking protesters, activists demanded an end to foreign interference in Iraqi affairs and called for the overthrow of the political establishment.
Human rights monitor Amnesty International estimates that at least 600 protesters and members of the security forces have been killed, with more than 18,000 injured in the protests.
Those carrying out assassinations of activists in Basra are “clearly well-connected individuals,” said Belkis Wille, senior crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch told Rudaw late last month.
Attacks will continue with impunity until the government is both strong and willing enough to bring the perpetrators to justice, Wille added.
