Peshmerga commander passes away two months after suspected ISIS IED attack

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The commander of the Kurdish Peshmerga commando forces succumbed to his injuries on Monday after he was injured in a suspected Islamic State (ISIS) IED attack in October, the force announced. 

Akam Omar passed away in a German hospital after being critically injured in the midst of an anti-ISIS operation in Garmiyan administration’s Qum Palik village on October 19, the force said on Facebook. 

“He fulfilled his promise and was martyred for the sake of Kurdistan,” the force stated. 

During the operation, a member of the force lost his life and eight others were injured. 

Omar spent ten days in Sulaimani’s Faruk Hospital before being flown out to Germany for further treatment due to the severity of his wounds, according to PUKMedia, affiliated with Sulaimani’s ruling Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani extended his condolences to Omar’s family following his death.

“I extend my deepest condolences to the family, relatives, comrades, and friends of the late martyr Akam Omar, commander of the commando forces, who passed away after a month and three weeks under medical care,” Barzani said.  

 ISIS seized control of large swathes of Iraqi land in 2014. The group was declared territorially defeated in 2017 but continues to carry out bombings, hit-and-run attacks, and abductions across several provinces.

The militants have taken shelter in a security vacuum in areas disputed between Erbil and Baghdad, stretching across several provinces including Kirkuk, Salahaddin, and Diyala.

 

Updated at 9:36 pm with President Barzani's condolences.