ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A prominent figure and veteran Peshmerga fighter in Sulaimani province’s Garmiyan administration was killed late Monday, local police said.
Akbar Rostam was shot dead at an estate he owned in his village in the Kifri district. An investigation has been launched, but no suspects have been arrested, Garmiyan Police Spokesperson Ali Jamal told Rudaw. He added that Rostam’s vehicle and mobile phone are missing and are believed to have been stolen.
Born in 1953, Rostam was a veteran Peshmerga fighter and a well-known figure in the area. He is survived by four wives and dozens of children.
Kochbar Rostam, a son of the deceased, told Rudaw that “we do not [know] who, from our own village, has shot him and killed him,” denying rumors that his father had been involved in social disputes.
Relatives said he was shot in the head.
Weapon-related crimes are on the rise in the Kurdistan Region, where firearms ranging from handguns to sniper rifles and machine guns are widely available on the black market.
Despite government efforts to regulate gun ownership, illegal weapons remain a persistent security threat, with an estimated 70 percent of the population reportedly owning a firearm.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) passed a weapons law in 2022 aimed at tightening control. Article 15 stipulates that “any individual who does not own a license, carries, sells, repairs, or distributes a firearm will be jailed for one to three years and fined between two million to five million dinars (approximately $1,500 to $3,800).”
A deadline for gun owners to register their weapons expired last year.
