Following the disturbances of the past few days, a Peshmerga named Rizwan Muhammad Ali was martyred this morning at 9:30 am, in the Sharanesh district of the Darkar sub-district of Zakho.

This is the second time in the past three days that such an incident has occurred. We, the Ministry of Peshmerga, strongly condemned this act, which will eventually end in the interests of the enemies of our people.

We call on the coalition forces and the Iraqi government to play an active role with the Peshmerga forces in stopping the encroachment and protecting the border areas in the region.

The PKK forces must understand that their actions have no purpose, and only our people will pay a heavy price. The Peshmerga forces will assume a great responsibility to protect the towns, villages, people of Kurdistan and the region's achievements.

The Ministry of Peshmerga reiterated that protecting the territorial integrity of the region is a priority and will not allow any force to threaten its borders. For this reason, the Ministry of Peshmerga considers its right to announce to all democratic forces and friendly countries that the mission of the Peshmerga is to maintain peace and freedom and repel ISIS terrorists, and not an unwanted war.

We extend our deepest condolences to the families, relatives and friends of the martyrs and wish a speedy recovery to the injured.

Ministry of Peshmerga
June 8