Jigjiga (SD) – Security forces of the Somali Regional State of Ethiopia have arrested the parents of Filsan Abdullahi Ahmed, the former Minister of Women, Youth and Children’s Affairs of Ethiopia.

Filsan Abdullahi said local government security forces arrested her parents and questioned them about her, calling the arrests illegal and abusive.

Filsan Abdullahi prior to her resignation said that Ethiopian troops had raped women in the Tigrean region, where a furious civil war is raging.

The Somali regional government has also shut down Nabad TV, a television station based in Jigjiga, owned by Filsan Abdullahi.

Filsan Abdullahi said her parents were later released “Thank God my parents have been released without any charges. They are the victims of vindictive and desperate men, who have resulted to depraved and destructive actions as the reality of their situation becomes evident before them” she Tweeted

Filsan Abdullahi became the youngest Somali woman to serve in the Ethiopian cabinet, and also the first person to establish an independent television station in the Somali regional state.

The Somali Regional State of Ethiopia has not yet commented on the arrests and release of Filsan’s parents.