ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Officials from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Sulaimani police have denied involvement in an alleged killing of a Change Movement (Gorran) guard at its Zargata Hill headquarters in Sulaimani in the early hours Tuesday.
Reband Farhad was shot dead at around 1:30 a.m. by a group of armed men, according to a Gorran statement by party-affiliated media outlets Tuesday.
Gorran claimed a PUK official had threatened party members at the headquarters before the attack.
“After a number of members on Zargata Hill faced the assault and fire of an armed group known as security (guards), as a result, Mr. Reband Farhad was martyred, and some others were arrested and then later released,” claimed Gorran.
According to the Gorran media affiliate Sbeiy, Farhad was a policeman and volunteer security guard. Gorran said such “irresponsible behavior” threatens the security of Sulaimani.
The party called on the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to investigate the incident and prevent such clashes from happening again.
Qubad Talabani, the KRG deputy PM and the son of late PUK leader Jalal Talabani, responding via Twitter, denied that the PUK was behind the attack, while urging people to wait for the investigation to be completed.
“...there was no PUK attack on Gorran last night, police are investigating the issue and will issue a statement clarifying the situation,” Talabani tweeted.
In a statement released on Facebook on Tuesday, Sulaimani police denied any such attack had taken place.
“According to the preliminary investigations of the police force, it has been discovered that there has been no firing at the Gorran Movement’s Main Headquarters in any form,” claimed the police.
According to the Sulaimani police, there was “violence and tension” between an “armed group” and security members of Anwer Sheikha Hospital.
“The armed men wanted to forcefully go into the hospital and attacked the security, leading to shots being fired in front of the hospital, far from the main headquarters of the Gorran Movement,” read the statement.
It did identify the killed Gorran member by his initials “R.F.” He had been injured during the gun fight, and had been taken to the hospital after police “instantly” arrived at the scene. He succumbed to his wound. Investigations continue.
Reband Farhad died in Sulaimani on June 11, 2019. Photo: Farhad FB
PUK and Gorran have been at loggerheads since the night of May 12, 2018, Iraq’s parliamentary election.
Then, security forces loyal to the PUK, believed to be under the command of Sheikh Jafaar Sheikh Mustafa, the commander of PUK’s Unit 70 Peshmerga, attacked Gorran’s Headquarters on the Zargata Hill with technicals (truck-mounted machine guns).
With political tensions high, Gorran was claiming voter fraud by the PUK. At the time PUK Counterterrorism Force head Lahur Talabany denied their party was behind the attack.
However in August, the PUK Politburo issued a statement on the occasion of Eid al-Adha apologizing for and specifically mentioning the attack.
Both Gorran and the PUK — the dominate parties in Sulaimani province — have agreed to participate in the formation of the next KRG. Such events undermine a consensus formation of the KRG between the Kurdistan Region’s three largest parties.
Masrour Barzani of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) was elected by parliament as the next PM by the Kurdistan Region on Tuesday. He has 30 days to form a cabinet. His election follows multiple calls by KDP President Masoud Barzani and new KRG President Nechirvan Barzani for unity among Kurdistani parties on Monday.
