Sisters Amina and Aya Sherzad, aged 8 and 11, were killed after gunfire hit their car while they were passing through Bashiryan village in the Kalak subdistrict. The gunshots also injured their father and another individual from one of the two feuding families, Antar Farhad, mayor of Kalak, told Rudaw.
“They had no connection with the conflict,” he said.
Such incidents in the Kurdistan Region frequently raise concerns about the widespread availability of firearms. Despite ongoing efforts by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to regulate gun ownership, illegal firearms remain prevalent.
An estimated 70 percent of the Kurdistan Region’s population is believed to own firearms, fueled by a thriving black market that supplies everything from handguns to sniper rifles.
Conflicts between families in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq also frequently turn violent and result in casualties.
In April, a tribal conflict in Duhok province’s Akre left two people injured, including a police officer, and two vehicles caught fire during the conflict.
Nasir Ali contributed to this report.
