Yezidi businessman, philanthropist murdered en route from spiritual leader's funeral in Nineveh

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A Yezidi businessman and philanthropist was murdered on Sunday while driving along the Shekhan-Alqosh road in Nineveh, relatives and a local official confirmed to Rudaw.

Bashir Hussein Gorya, 46, was shot as he drove home from a funeral held for the late Yezidi spiritual leader Baba Sheikh Khurto Hajji Ismail in Shekhan, in the northwestern Iraqi province of Nineveh.

Jawar Saado was one of two relatives in the car with Gorya when he was murdered.

"A red vehicle was stationary ahead of us. We neared them, and once he [the assailant] saw us, he got out of the car and started to shoot at us with a pistol," Saado told Rudaw.

"As he fired at us, I jumped out of the car. Had I not jumped out of the way, he would have killed me too," Saado said.

Gorya, a father-of-two, was from the village of Mushrafiya in Alqosh. He funded projects for Yezidi survivors of the Islamic State (ISIS) genocide, including orphanages.

"His most recent sacred work was to open an orphanage for survivors of ISIS, those who lost their parents in this fight," Zaaim Kret, a teacher from Mushrafiya said.

The deceased philanthropist "had even taken charge of the all the expenses of the orphanage, which is home to 360 orphans," Kret added.

Shekhan, a predominantly Yezidi town administered by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), is just 23 kilometers from Alqosh, administered by the Iraqi government.

Both the motive behind the murder and the assailant's identity are unknown, Alqosh town mayor Lara Zara told Rudaw on Sunday.

"We will definitely continue our follow-ups to discover the perpetrators of this act," Zara said.

Translation by Zhelwan Z. Wali

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