ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Sulaimani residents living near Lalezar Hotel said their homes and businesses were damaged during Friday’s deadly clashes between security forces and armed men loyal to opposition leader Lahur Talabany, with some accusing authorities of failing to warn them to evacuate before the fighting started.
People’s Front (Baray Gal) leader Lahur Talabany was arrested Friday morning after four hours of heavy gunfire that also saw tanks driving through the streets of Sulaimani.
Several residents near the Lalezar Hotel said their homes were damaged in the crossfire, complaining that they were not told to evacuate, demanding compensation for all the damage their properties have sustained.
“We are safe,” Abdullah Hamajwan, a well-known Sulaimani actor whose house is close to the hotel said, lamenting “I am unhappy that this happened, for people to attack each other, be daring against each other.”
The fighting started at 3:30 am and lasted four hours. Light, medium and heavy weapons were used, and armored vehicles flooded the streets as rounds streaked through the night toward the hotel.
PUKMedia reported that Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Bafel Talabani ordered compensation for affected families and properties and formed a committee to handle the process.
As the dust settled, the extent of the damage around the hotel became clear. Vehicles were seen destroyed, buildings sustained heavy damage, and broken glass littered the area.
Rudaw’s Nzar Jaza reported that an unexploded rocket had crashed on the ground near a tourist project, with a cat lay bleeding nearby.
Kurdish artist and painter Hikmat Hindi showed Rudaw his studio on the top floor of his house, with shattered windows and severely damaged walls and painting.
He said rockets and RPGs had struck his home. “I am sad about my painting. They ripped all of it, and bombs hit them,” he said, pointing to a damaged painting depicting Kurdistan’s nature. “What is important is to be safe.”
Hindi added that security forces entered his house and used it for fighting. “The last painting I made is here on the floor,” he said.
“What I ask for is for the law to be above everything, but it should be implemented with justice under the principles of law. It should not be that way. It is not just my house. The houses near me were also hit by RPGs,” he said.
“They [security forces] told us to evacuate at 3:30 am,” Hindi said, referring to the exact moment when the skirmish erupted. “I came back to this destruction.”
Talabany, also known as Lahur Sheikh Jangi, was ousted in 2021 as co-chair of the PUK by his cousins Bafel and Qubad Talabani. He later founded the opposition party Baray Gal. He entered the Kurdistan Region 2024 parliamentary elections, securing two of the 100 seats in the Kurdish legislature.
He faces charges under Article 56 of the Iraqi penal code for alleged involvement in a criminal conspiracy, defined as an agreement between two or more people to commit a felony or misdemeanor such as theft, fraud, or forgery.
