ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Two policemen were badly injured when shot by gunmen in the Kurdistan Region’s town of Shaqlawa early Thursday morning, a police spokesperson told Rudaw. After a resident registered a complaint at the Shaqlawa police station, saying “two suspects were threatening to raid their house. Our forces deployed to the destination to watch over the place. Two suspects raided the citizen’s house at 2:00” in the morning, Erbil police spokesperson Hogir Aziz told Rudaw’s Sirwan Abbas on Thursday. The suspects clashed with police and two policemen were “heavily injured,” said Aziz. “Our forces could arrest one of the suspects and are in efforts to arrest the second suspect.” Police did not disclose the nature of the dispute was but assured that an investigation is ongoing. Gun violence has become an all too frequent affair in the Kurdistan Region. Last year saw an increase in the phenomenon and this year’s numbers appear to be even higher. In a bid to decrease the number of guns in the hands of the public, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in 2019 gave gun owners six months to register their firearms and give up their heavy weapons. However, the government’s gun-control measures are doing little to counter the proliferation of weapons. Civilians can often go through personal connections to get permission to carry firearms. Weapons, including sniper rifles and machine guns, can also be bought on the black market. Sulaimani authorities in July decided to limit gun ownership by revoking licenses not authorized by the Ministry of Interior, provincial authorities, or district administrations.
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