Sulaimani police officer says ‘son of an official’ shot him in front of home

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A police officer has told Rudaw that he was shot in front of his family home in Sulaimani on Wednesday, alleging that he was shot at by the son of an official he did not name.

Sheikhal Ibrahim, an emergency and defense police officer in Sulaimani, was driving home from a sports hang-out with two of his children when he was surrounded by “more than 15” armed men, among them “the son of this official”.

Ibrahim told Rudaw’s Horvan Rafaat that the man “tightened his hand around my neck and started firing”.

“He also shot at my mom – my mom went towards him, and he fired at her, my wife, my sons, at all of them.”

Ibrahim, who received a minor head injury as a result of the attack, refused to name the alleged assailant, but asked his father to “turn in his son” and the armed men that accompanied him. Ibrahim’s mother and son were also injured.

Ibrahim fired back at the attackers, but accidentally shot a driver passing by in a car similar to that of the assailant at the time of the attack. The passer-by has been hospitalized for his injuries.

The police officer suspects he and his family were shot at by the assailant after he berated them for driving recklessly a few minutes earlier.

Gun violence has become an all too frequent affair in the Kurdistan Region.

On January 27,  two brothers were shot dead in Erbil’s Ainkawa neighborhood because of a “social feud,” police told Rudaw.

Angry customers opened fire at an Erbil pacha restaurant early on January 15 after being told it was out of food.

The year 2020 saw an increase in reported gun violence across the Kurdistan Region, Sulaimani police spokesperson Sarkawt Ahmad told Rudaw English late November.

On November 22, a group of armed men, some dressed in Peshmerga uniform, attacked a Sulaimani restaurant owner over an alleged rent dispute with the landlord.

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

Despite the efforts, guns can easily be obtained at Kurdistan Region arms markets.

Updated on February 6, 2020: The original story reported the event took place on Thursday, when the event took place on Wednesday.