Metro Center condemns the arrest of Westga News and NRT teams and calls for the immediate release of the detainees.

Last night, July 9th, 2025, two media teams of Westga News and NRT were arrested while covering the violence in Bardarash in Ruviya of Duhok province and are still missing.

The detainees include Westga News reporter Rizgar Kamil, NRT reporter and cameraman Taif Goran and Rayan Sdqi.

"Westga News reporter Razgar Kamil was kidnapped in Duhok after he went to Ruviya to cover the fighting between The Harkis and security forces," Westga News said.

NRT also reported that its reporter and cameraman were kidnapped by KDP forces and are missing.

Metro Center reiterates its call for a genuinely diverse and pluralistic media environment, in which independent media outlets can work freely to provide information and raise awareness among citizens, free from oppression of information and obstacles to the journalism law.

Most of the events that have news value in the Kurdistan Regional Government cities, the security forces create obstacles for the media teams in carrying out their coverage.

Metro Center condemns the arrest of Westga News and NRT teams and calls for the immediate release of the detainees.