Police say Asos Hardi was pistol-whipped on Monday as he was leaving the offices of his weekly Awina newspaper in the city of Sulaimaniyah. Hardi was often critical of the local Kurdish government.

Human Rights Watch is demanding an investigation into the assault. The New York-based group on Tuesday said the attack is another example of a government-sanctioned crackdown against media and free speech in Iraq’s self-ruled Kurdish north.

Protests have turned violent this year over meager government services and corruption in the Kurdish region. Journalists have been among the first to be attacked.

Sulaimaniyah is 160 miles (260 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad.