‘There were only a few like Hemwand’: Peshmerga found murdered in the UK

A Peshmerga sniper was found dead in the UK on Sunday in an apparent murder. 

Hemwand Ali Hussain, 30, was a skilled Kurdish sniper, according to his family and fellow soldiers. He was killed in Hartlepool, a town in the northeast England. British police sent an email to his brother saying that Hamawand is killed, according to his family.

One man was arrested in relation to the murder and the case remains under investigation, according to local media. 

Hemwand was born in the Soran district in the Kurdistan Region in 1989. He immigrated to the UK in 2005 and married a British woman.

At the start of the war against the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2014, he returned to the Kurdistan Region with his wife. He was injured during the offensives of Shingal and Zummar, but fought against ISIS until the end of the war.

Hemwand became a Peshmerga representative with the international anti-ISIS coalition. Peshmerga commanders describe him as a great soldier.

“He was a genius and an active Peshmerga,” Brig. Gen. Musa Gardi told Rudaw. “Believe me, there were only a few like Hemwand.”

Hemwand is the father of two young boys named Adam and Jalal. His body is still in the UK while the investigation takes place.

Reporting by Bakhtiyar Qadir