ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—A Kurdish soldier in the Iraqi army has been hailed as a hero for destroying 60 Islamic State (ISIS) car bombs in battle. Mustafa Mandalawi, said that he personally targeted and destroyed 70 ISIS vehicles in different areas of Iraq 60 of which were packed with explosives and deployed as car bombs. Iraq’s Defense Minister Khalid al-Obaidi visit Mandalawi in hospital on Thursday where he is being treated for injuries sustained in a recent battle. In praise of Mandalawi al-Obeidi said "if he destroys 60 car bombs then he equals the Iraqi air force." A journalist in the hospital ward asked the defense minister if he knew Mandalawi was a Kurd to which he replied, “I just learned this information, I do not know he is a Kurd or Arab, what matters to me is that he is a hero, he is Iraqi and from the Iraqi army.” Thousands of Kurds serve in the Iraqi army which they joined after an agreement between Erbil and Baghdad in 2005. They participated in the battle of Ramadi last year.
