Kurdistan
Security forces in Choman distrct following clashes between villages, July 12, 2021. Photo: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — One person was killed and another injured when skirmishes broke out between residents of two villages in Erbil province’s Choman district over land disputes, a Peshmerga official said, adding that some of the men carrying weapons are government employees.
“This problem has existed for more than two years between the Ena and Barakayi tribes, but it resurfaced over a month ago in this area, when the gunmen on both sides took up to the mountains“ which was later controlled by security forces, Lieutenant-Colonel Haydar Najim from First Supporting Forces Command of Peshmerga told Rudaw on Monday from Balakayati area where the skirmishes broke out.
Both sides, from the villages of Kani Spi and Ena, were once again at loggerheads, resulting in casualties.
“Unfortunately last night, those forces suddenly stood against each other again, and as you are aware, it led to the killing of one person and the injury of another from the Barakayi tribe,” added Najim.
Four people have been arrested by police and the shooting is reportedly under control. However, Najim explained that controlling the situation was difficult because it's a border area with different forces, and those carrying weapons are government forces like the Asayish and Peshmerga.
“This is a border area… there are armed men from the PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party], other parties, and forces from Iraq’s interior ministry as border guards - it’s not a place that Peshmerga can move around in easily … it complicates the situation more,” added Najim, explaining that if they advance to some places “it might create tension with the PKK… if we go there clashes might erupt.”
The PKK is an armed group fighting for greater rights for Kurds in Turkey. The party’s headquarters are based in the mountains of the Kurdistan Region. Clashes occasionally break out between Peshmerga and the PKK. Five Peshmerga were killed in June in what was blamed on the PKK, but the group said they had only fired warning shots to stop the Peshmerga from nearing their position.
According to the Lieutenant-Colonel, various weapons such as sniper rifles and light machine guns have been used in the fight. “Most of those [men] have weapons because there are armed men from Iraq, Peshmerga, joint brigades, security from Asayish and other sides, that’s why those weapons are special to where each person works, that’s why it’s easy to have those weapons among our people,” said Najim.
He said that it’s an issue that only the government can solve, not any other side.
Mahmoud Barakayi, chief of Kani Spi village whose son, Qandil was killed in the skirmishes and his nephew was injured, said the issue will get even bigger if it’s not brought under control by the government.
“We are calling on the [Kurdistan] Regional Government, the [Kurdistan] Region’s president, if they don’t solve this problem, this issue is going to get bigger, a lot bigger. The Choman authority is negligent,” said Barakayi, sitting on a chair with at least 12 men standing behind him armed with weapons.
“Most of them are Peshmerga - either Asayish or Peshmerga. It’s a border area, people have their own weapons. In general, they have it, it's not just me, it's all of Kurdistan," he added.
Minister of Interior Reber Ahmed said in May that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) plans to tighten its gun control laws, but cannot promise a complete end to gun markets.
According to unofficial data compiled by Kurdistan Region’s independent human rights commission, 70 percent of households have a weapon.
2020 saw an increase in reported gun violence across the Kurdistan Region, a Sulaimani police spokesperson told Rudaw English in November. And this year, the numbers appear to be even higher.
Gun-related deaths in the Kurdistan Region have “increased 50 percent compared to last year,” Shakhawan Rauf Bag, head of the parliament’s Peshmerga, Interior, Security, and Local Councils Committee said in late April. Twelve people were killed between April 1 and April 27, while a total of 25 were killed over the course of last year.
According to Article 6 of the 1993 weapons ownership law, persons over 18 who are permanent residents of the Kurdistan Region, and have no criminal record or mental illness can carry a weapon.
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