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Families of Peshmerga soldiers slain by the Islamic State group (ISIS) have expressed their joy at the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the man who spread terror across Iraq, Syria and beyond as self-declared caliph.
Peshmerga Hujam Surchi was beheaded by ISIS fighters in Mosul on January 25th, 2015 after being handed over to the group by local villagers in an August 2014 battle which left 8 of his colleagues dead.
His eldest son Omer has described Baghdadi’s death as “the best day of our lives.”
‘I, as the son of a martyr, am very pleased with the death of al-Baghdadi. He was behind the death and displacement of many people,” he told Rudaw. “We are so happy it almost feels like our father is still with us,” he added.
Omer and his uncle both thanked the Syrian Kurds and US forces for their work in locating the ISIS chief, who detonated a suicide vest after being cornered in a nighttime house raid outside of Idlib on October 27.
“I have great respect for them [Syrian Kurds] and the US Army,” said Miqdad Mousa, cousin of the late Peshmerga fighter.
Mousa spoke of his Surchi with pride, praising his courage even in the face of death.
“I have great respect for Hujam, who died bravely. Hujam was from the Surchi tribe and was never afraid of death. Baghdadi killed himself and this three sons in a tunnel.”
Surchi’s family was not the only one celebrating the news.
Pshtiwan Osman fell into the hands of ISIS during an attack on the village of Maktabkhalid, south of Kirkuk, on December 30, 2014. He was subsequently beheaded on March 19, 2015 in Mosul.
His brother was elated by the news of the ISIS leader’s death.
"I was thrilled by hearing the news of the death of Baghdadi. And I think no one could be happier than us, as the families of those whose loved ones brutally were killed by ISIS. We are happy now that this dirty criminal has died," Hiwa Osman, 31, told Rudaw on Tuesday.
He hailed the involvement of Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the killing of Baghdadi in northwestern Idlib.
"[The] Kurdish forces in Rojava are our brothers. Our thoughts and prayers are with them all the time. We are all Kurds standing side by side with each other and I think this is the feeling of every single Kurd."
Peshmerga Commander Faruq Mohammed was killed in a battle against ISIS militants near Jalawla on June 17, 2014 and is survived by three children, the youngest of whom was born after his father's death.
His wife spoke of the pain of losing her husband in 2014 and welcomed Baghdadi’s death.
"No doubt I was happy to hear that he was killed. I do not want to name this scoundrel person. I do not want to even utter the word of Daesh on my tongue because no one imagines how painful my life has been since Faruq was martyred,” Magrun Karim Salih said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
"These dirty despicable animals destroyed my life, took away Faruq from me," she added.
Approximately three dozen Peshmerga fighters were captured by ISIS. More than 2,000 Peshmerga were killed and 10,000 wounded in the fight against the terror group, which saw swathes of territory across Iraq and Syria subject to extremist rule under the so-called Islamic State. Declared a caliphate by al-Baghdadi in June 2014, thousands were killed, enslaved and terrorized by fighters who pledged allegiance to him.
Reporting by Naif Ramadan and Zhelwan Z. Wali
Translation by Sarkawt Mohammed
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