ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A high-level delegation from Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Service (ICTS) visited Altun Kupri (Prde) in Kirkuk province on Friday to attend the mourning ceremony for a Kurdish teenager, a day after the force acknowledged that he was killed during a recent operation against the Islamic State (ISIS).
The delegation offered condolences to the family on behalf of the ICTS leadership.
The visit came a day after the service clarified that two Kurdish teenagers, Mohammed Hemin and Murad Zana, were killed on Sunday at a warehouse near where fierce fighting broke out between the elite Iraqi force and suspected ISIS members.
The ICTS initially identified Hemin as an ISIS member, sparking public outrage and prompting Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to order an investigation into the incident.
Rudaw learned that, in addition to the two deaths, Hemin’s family warehouse, four homes and three vehicles were damaged during the operation.
The ICTS said on Thursday that during the fighting in Prde, “a clash occurred, resulting in the killing of one terrorist and the arrest of the other,” adding that the fighting also resulted in “the deaths of two civilians and the injury of four Counter-Terrorism Service fighters.”
Hemin Rahman, the father of 15-year-old Mohammed Hemin, told Rudaw on Wednesday that had the ICTS informed the family that an ISIS member was inside his warehouse, he would not have hesitated to capture him and hand him over to the force.
"Big mistakes were made that require investigation," Kirkuk Governor Mohammed Samaan Agha told Rudaw on Tuesday.
He added that, following a meeting with ICTS officials, the anti-terror delegation admitted to him that Hemin, like Zana, had been killed by mistake during the crossfire.
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