DUHOK, Kurdistan Region—Thousands of Peshmerga soldiers and civilians in the city of Duhok have said their final goodbyes to Lieutenant Wahid Kovli, the commander of the province’s anti-terrorism forces and a well-known name in the war against ISIS, who died of a stroke in his house on Friday.
“He always said I will die in battle not a natural death,” Roj Wahid, Kovli’s son told Rudaw shortly after his father was buried at Duhok’s Shaxke cemetery.
Thousands of fellow Peshmerga who fought ISIS alongside Kovli and civilians from the city lined the streets and alleys surrounding the mosque where Kovli’s body was prepared for burial.
“He was a cousin, a leader, everything to us,” said one of Kovli’s female cousins while trying to fight off her tears.
Kovli, 47, was a well-known name in the fight against ISIS and he gained fame as he was one of the first people to join the war against the radical group as a volunteer fighter in the summer of 2014.
He was later appointed the commander of antiterrorism forces.
“His presence boosted the morale of the Peshmerga at every step,” Colonel Zeravani Barojki, a friend of Kovli told Rudaw. “Personally he was like tanks and armor standing behind his Peshmerga.”
“Whenever he heard there was a fight on a certain front he would make sure to get there as quickly as possible.” Col. Barojki recalled.
Kovli was wounded more than five times in battle against ISIS, mainly on the Mosul front. A few days prior to his death had come home to rest, said one of his guards.
“He said he didn’t feel well,” said the guard, who saw rushed Kovli to hospital on Friday morning upon learning that his superior was not waking up from his sleep. “But until a few hours earlier he was normal, came and talked and joked with us before going back to his room.”
Almost one year to the day Kovli and 20 Peshmerga soldiers came to a hospital in Erbil where they donate kidneys to a young girl who was losing both of her kidneys.
Kovli told Rudaw then that he brought with him the Peshmerga to the hospital to help the girl "because she is the daughter of a Peshmerga hero."
"Kurdistan’s enemies must know that Peshmerga and their families are not alone.” Kovli said at the hospital ward.
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