Erbil police claim unprecedented success in resolving cases for 2020

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The director of Erbil’s police at a press conference on Sunday claimed unprecedented success for the force in resolving cases during 2020.

Of the 10,861 offenses recorded in the Kurdistan Region’s capital, the “success rate in resolving them was 92.2%, which hasn’t been recorded in Erbil police before,” asserted director of Erbil’s police Brigadier-General Dler Najar on Sunday at a joint press conference with acting Erbil governor Hemin Qadir.

According to Najar, 4,301 perpetrators were arrested in or around the city by police to stand trial in court.

“Most of the problems are social issues about land, loans, and other issues that started with physical fights and ended with the use of weapons,” said acting governor Qadir of the crimes reported. He added that they will not allow people to “carry out illegal and threatening acts in Erbil.”

The previous year saw an increase in reported gun violence across the Kurdistan Region, Sulaimani police’s spokesperson Sarkawt Ahmad told Rudaw English late November.

Najar attributed the increase in gun violence to the presence of weapons among Erbil residents.

“The city of Erbil naturally has a lot of people, and the people are mostly commoner types. They’re all weapon-owners, it’s a reality that we all know,” he said.

According to Najar, there were 65 homicides in 2020, out of which 61 suspected perpetrators were arrested and tried in a court of law. Of the 32 shootings in the city last year, 29 offenders were similarly arrested and taken to court.

There were at least ten attacks on hospitals, pharmacies, and cafes over the course of the year.

While several cases of gun violence made the public spotlight in 2020, this year on Friday four angry customers opened fire at an Erbil pacha restaurant and adjacent eateries after staff said that they were out of food.

The owner of Del Mar café near Lebanese village in Erbil was wounded after he was attacked by five armed men at his business on October 22, he said.

On October 15, three armed men entered a pharmacy near Erbil's Lawan City, physically assaulted its employees, and then fled the sight. Erbil police arrested two suspects they believed attacked the pharmacy one month later and one two days after the attack.

Sixty weapons were confiscated, noted the police director, emphasizing a ministry of interior program to eliminate gun possession, revise gun licenses, and retrieve weapons from security forces after the completion of their service.

During the war on ISIS, there were reports that some Peshmerga were selling their German-issued weapons on the black market when they hadn’t been paid in months. Germany temporarily halted delivering weapons in 2016 until the matter was investigated and some arrests were made.

In a bid to decrease the number of guns in the hands of the general populace, the KRG gave gun owners six months to register their firearms and give up their heavy weapons back in 2019.

However, multiple black markets where different firearms can be bought, including sniper rifles and machine guns, still exist in the Kurdistan Region.

Police in 2020 also recorded a number of other offences, including begging, trespassing on public property, vehicle violations, among other crimes.

As for the unique coronavirus-related offences recorded in 2020, around 1,300 establishments were closed down for not adhering to health and interior ministry instructions. Around 45 tons of expired medicine was confiscated, added Najar.

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