Suspect at large after shooting couple in Erbil, police say

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A man allegedly opened fire on his sister and her husband after storming into her house in Erbil on Thursday, killing the couple over what locals cited as a “social dispute.” The suspect is at large.

Amid concerns of spiraling gun violence in the Kurdistan Region, a brother allegedly shot dead his 18-year-old sister and her 21-year-old husband in the capital’s Salahaddin neighborhood, Erbil police department told Rudaw’s Sidad Lashkri.

Locals and relatives of the victims cited “social dispute” as the motive behind the killing.

“It was over a social issue. The issue occurred about a year ago and I have married off three [of my] girls to this family [suspect’s family],” Rostam Jibrael, the father of the killed man said without disclosing further details about the problems between the two families.

Shortly after the incident, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani ordered the interior ministry to shutdown businesses that sell firearms and ammunition as well as the seizure of unlicensed guns so they do not become a “threat on people’s lives,” read a statement published by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). 

A few hours later, Erbil Governor Omed Khoshnaw announced that starting from Thursday, checkpoints will be set up near places suspected of selling guns and a campaign to seize unlicensed weapons will also be launched. 

Minor family disputes can rapidly escalate into violent altercations, leading to shootings and murders across the Kurdistan Region where gun violence remains rife.

The tragic incident comes two days after top Kurdish leaders called for the eradication of unlicensed arms and bringing gun ownership under control following the killing of two renowned university academics in Erbil on Tuesday. The crime caused an outcry across the Region.

Gun-related crimes are on the rise in the Kurdistan Region where firearms, including sniper rifles and machine guns, are purchased on the black market.

Another man was arrested after he shot dead his wife and three of her family members under the same pretext of “social dispute” in early May.

An estimated 70 percent of people in the Kurdistan Region own weapons.

The Region’s parliament last year said it is considering a new law that will impose tighter regulations for obtaining gun licenses to bring gun violence under control.

Erbil saw 79 murders and 28 shooting incidents in the past year, according to data from the city’s police.