Iraqi Kurdistan Region Seeks to Stop Violence against Women

Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Qubad Talabani wears a shirt with a slogan promoting women's rights.
Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Qubad Talabani wears a shirt with a slogan promoting women's rights.
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Iraqi Kurdistan Region Seeks to Stop Violence against Women

Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Qubad Talabani wears a shirt with a slogan promoting women's rights.
Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Qubad Talabani wears a shirt with a slogan promoting women's rights.

Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Qubad Talabani expressed outrage over continued abuse of women’s rights, stressing that there is no honor in murdering women.

“We will not tolerate or accept violence against women in the name of honor — those responsible will pay a heavy price for their crime,” he vowed.

He made his statement after a woman was hanged to death by her brothers in the district of Kalar, Garmiyan on Friday. The murder drew widespread condemnation and went viral on social media.

Police forces arrested four suspects hours after the discovery of the woman's body. Three of the detainees were the victim’s brothers, who confessed to the murder.

Police said she was killed over a “social issue.”

“Talabani, from the moment he heard about the incident, contacted the Garmiyan administration and asked to personally follow up on the investigation,” Garmiyan administration supervisor Jalal Nuri Abdul Qadir told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The deputy prime minister stressed the need to conduct accurate and transparent investigations.

“Talabani has a dedicated interest in all issues related to women's rights, and he has a clear strategy in this area,” his spokesperson Samir Hawrami told Asharq Al-Awsat. He has also established a special taskforce to follow up on issues related to women’s rights and raise awareness on gender equality.

Hawrami also affirmed that Talabani, after his appointment as deputy prime minister, had made sure to place women's rights and gender equality at the core of his work in government.

He reiterated Talabani’s strong belief in the importance of the role of women in society, and the need to confront the outdated traditions that restrict all women and violate their freedom and rights as a human being.



Israel Says Rockets Fired from Syria for the First Time Since Bashar Assad’s Fall 

An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)
An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)
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Israel Says Rockets Fired from Syria for the First Time Since Bashar Assad’s Fall 

An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)
An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)

The Israeli army said two rockets were fired from Syria into open areas in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights on Tuesday, marking the first time a strike has been launched toward Israel from Syrian territory since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December.

Syrian state media reported that Israel shelled the western countryside of Syria’s Daraa province after the rocket launch. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, also reported Israeli airstrikes that caused “violent explosions” around the city of Quneitra and in the Daraa countryside.

A group calling itself the Mohammed Deif Brigades — named after a Hamas military leader killed by an Israeli strike in Gaza last year — claimed the attack in a post on Telegram. The group first surfaced on social media a few days before.

“Until now, it’s just a Telegram channel. It’s not known if it is a real group,” said Ahmed Aba Zeid, a Syrian researcher who has studied armed factions in southern Syria.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that Israel considers “the Syrian president directly responsible for every threat and firing toward the State of Israel” and warned of a “full response” to come “as soon as possible.”

Israel has been suspicious of the former opposition fighters who formed the new Syrian government, led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, and has launched hundreds of airstrikes on Syria and seized a UN-patrolled buffer zone on Syrian territory since Assad’s fall.

Syria’s foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the state-run TV channel that it has “not yet verified the accuracy” of the reports of strikes launched from Syria toward Israel.

“We affirm that Syria has not and will not pose a threat to any party in the region,” the statement said. It condemned the Israeli shelling, which it said had resulted in “significant human and material losses.”

The US, which has warmed to al-Sharaa's government and recently moved to lift some sanctions previously imposed on Syria, has pushed for Syria to normalize relations with Israel.

In a recent interview with the Jewish Journal, al-Sharaa said he wants to see a return to a 1974 ceasefire agreement between the two countries but stopped short of proposing immediate normalization, saying that “peace must be earned through mutual respect, not fear.”