Kurdish security member and 'Arab' assailant killed in gunfire incident in Iraq's Duhok
A Kurdish security officer and an assailant were killed in the Iraqi Kurdistan region following a skirmish outside a local security headquarter in Duhok.
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A Kurdish security officer and an assailant were killed in the Iraqi Kurdistan region following a skirmish outside a local security headquarter in Duhok. [Getty]
At least one Kurdish security officer was killed, and another was wounded on Monday afternoon after an assailant opened fire at a local security base in the Duhok province of the Iraqi Kurdistan region, according to local media channels. The assailant was also reportedly killed.
Duhok police identified the killed security member as Azad Ibrahim, without further clarification. According to K24, a satellite channel close to Masrour Barzani, prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), the assailant was an "Arab".
An investigation into the incident has been initiated by the KRG authorities. The wounded has been identified as Zindan Mzuri and his health is stable, reported Rudaw, another Kurdish satellite channel seen as close to the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
Duhok's security forces have killed an attacker attempting to enter a local security headquarters in the eastern part of the city, Kurdistan 24 correspondent reported. pic.twitter.com/0DCmVW08K6
— Kurdistan 24 English (@K24English) December 12, 2022
The New Arab contacted Hemn Sulaiman, spokesperson of Duhok police, but he was not immediately available to comment.
It is not yet clear whether the incident was categorised as a "terrorist attack", and no one announced responsibility so far.
In the Iraqi Kurdistan region, gun violence is rampant and guns are easily purchased in the marketplace. The region has a weak justice system in front of the hegemony of the two main ruling parties, the KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) while Kurdish authorities struggle to control unlicensed weapons.
The moment several gunmen open fire on a Duhok Security Forces (Asaysh) base
— KurdSat English (@KurdsatEnglish) December 12, 2022
An Asaysh officer was killed, and another injured, with the gunman killed in the firefight.#Kurdistan #Duhok #Shooting pic.twitter.com/AkaedcEjpC
On 28 June, a faculty dean and a lecturer at Salahaddin University in Erbil, the capital city of the Iraqi Kurdistan region, were shot dead by a former law student.
Barzani in July ordered his interior ministry to regulate weapon acquisition and close down shops that are selling firearms and ammunition.
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