SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The 40th mourning ceremony of martyr Akam Omar, The Commander of Kurdistan Forces was held in Sulaimani on Saturday.
Commander Akam had been martyred in December last year from wounds sustained from an improvised explosive device (IED) blast.
The military convoy of Commander Akam hit the IED in Graminan’s Zenana area in the midst of an anti-terror operation against the remnants of the Islamic State (ISIS) in October last year.
The late Commander had been admitted to the hospital for nearly two months but he had succumbed to his injuries in a hospital in Germany.
Commander Akam was laid to rest in his birthplace Erbil after his body had been flown back to Kurdistan Region via Sulaiamani international airport on December, 12 last year. Mass funeral ceremonies were held across the Kurdistan Region to mourn the Commander’s death.
“Commander Akam’s endeavors for Kurdistan remain in our thoughts and memories forever,” The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) President, Bafel Talabani said in Saturday’s ceremony.
“Commander Akam served the Peshmerga force and the Kurdistan people at a young age and played a remarkable role in fighting terrorism and protecting Kurdistan,” said Talabani.
“Therefore, lossing a young loyal and brave commander like him is a big loss to the Peshmerga force and the entire Kurdistan people,” he added.
Foreign military missions and as well as diplomats along with leaders across Iraq had expressed grieved condolences for the death of Commander Akam.
ISIS terror group controlled roughly a third of Iraq between 2014 and 2017.
However, the Iraqi forces and Kurdish troops backed by U.S.-led Coalition forces as well as Iran-backed Shia militias defeated the group in 2017.
While ISIS was driven out of most of the territory, many of the terrorist militants still roam in the so-called disputed territories, claimed by both the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
Its remaining thousands of militants have in recent years mostly hid out in remote hinterlands of the country though they are still capable of carrying out insurgent-style attacks.
