PUK commander killed in Sulaimani province: security source
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A commander from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) was killed in a shooting incident in Sulaimani province on Thursday evening, a security source told Rudaw. The commander is believed to be close to the party’s dismissed co-chair Lahur Talabany.
The security source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the PUK commander died at Ranya hospital from a gunshot wound.
A source from Ranya Hospital confirmed to Rudaw that they received two bodies.
A video, purportedly showing the incident, has circulated on social media. In it, a man is heard saying Murad Kani Kurdayi was killed.
Four hours before the incident, Kurdayi said in a Facebook post that he was “on duty at the Raparin Police Directorate.” Ranya city is located within the Raparin administration of Sulaimani province.
Media affiliated with PUK leader Bafel Talabani said there was an arrest warrant for Kurdayi.
“When implementing the decision to arrest the wanted Murad Kani Kurdayi to implement law, he confronted the security forces and martyred a member of the security forces and injured another. As a result, the security forces responded and killed Murad Kani Kurdayi,” reported Gali Kurdistan.
The security force member who was killed was identified as Shamil Zrar Ismail, according to PUK-affiliated Kurdsat News, citing a statement attributed to the Kurdistan Region Security Council. Three other security force members were injured and two people with Kurdayi were also killed. The incident is being investigated, according to the statement.
It is not immediately clear what the charge was against Kurdayi, but the killing comes as tensions are high within the PUK because of an internal feud and after days of student protests that have been met with violence.
Bafel Talabani, co-chair of the PUK, cut Lahur Talabany out of the PUK’s halls of power in early July when he changed the head of the party’s intelligence agency and counter-terrorism units who were affiliated with Lahur Talabany and replaced them with people loyal to himself, saying the shake-up was needed to combat corruption.
Lahur Talabany was officially expelled from the party leadership earlier this month. He has denied the accusations made against him and been sharply critical of what he called the “new PUK.”
On Wednesday, he issued a statement condemning the use of force against students who have protested for five days, demanding the government reinstate an allowance that was cut in 2014. “The government officials from the green zone [PUK-controlled Sulaimani and Halabja provinces] are not taken seriously by the decision makers of the family and leaders of the KDP,” he wrote, referring to the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which rules in Erbil and Duhok.
“Finally, a friendly warning to the current decision makers of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, I remind them that the use of force is only for the enemies of our people. Anyone who wants to use force against their own people, rest assured that this will result in the people’s anger towards them and that their lives and families will be in danger,” he added.
Kurdayi’s Facebook page includes many photos of him with Lahur Talabany.
Tensions have been high in Sulaimani since July, with armed supporters of Lahur Talabany guarding his house. The PUK tried to force him to leave the Kurdistan Region until after the October 10 Iraqi parliamentary election, but he refused.
Updated at 11:40 pm