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TAKIYA, Kurdistan Region — The family of a protester killed in Takiya, Sulaimani province on Tuesday have said his death is an "unjust and painful tragedy."
Hiwa Fuad, 21, was shot in the leg and died of his injuries.
He is one of nine people, including a Peshmerga officer, to be killed in the ongoing protests across several parts of the Kurdistan Region, according to figures provided to Rudaw English on Thursday by Ali al-Bayati, a member of the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights.
"They killed our nephew, such an unjust and painful tragedy. God commands that you may do whatever you like on earth, including destroying the Kaaba, but not shedding innocent blood," Abduljabbar Tofiq told Rudaw on Wednesday.
"My son wore a nice suit and went to the bazaar. I called him but he did not answer...I went to the bazaar and asked about my son. They said my son was wounded, he was shot in leg," Hiwa's mother Suaad Tofiq told Rudaw.
"I came back home and they told me 'your son is dead.'"
Hiwa was a law student at the University of Sulaimani, and had the highest grades of any Chamchamal high school student in 2019.
His cousin says he was helping an injured relative when he was shot.
"One of our relatives was wounded and when he [Hiwa] went over to help him, they shot him too," said Mohammed Mustafa, who said Hiwa was killed by "emergency" forces belonging to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
Protests broke out in Sulaimani city last Wednesday, with civil servants calling for their salaries to be paid after months of delay.
Demonstrations in the city were suppressed at the weekend, with security forces employing rubber bullets, water cannons and tear gas against protesters, but have since spread to other parts of the province, as well as Halabja province and the Garmiyan administration.
Translation and video editing by Sarkawt Mohammed
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