KRG fires security official with coronavirus for breaking quarantine
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Saturday fired the security director of a major border crossing with Turkey for failing to follow anti-coronavirus quarantine measures upon returning from abroad after unknowingly having contracted the contagious disease.
It marks the first official in the Kurdistan Region to be removed from his post for violating the rules and regulations enacted by the government to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
“After conducting preliminary investigations, it showed that our officer Brigadier General Abdulwahab Mohammed Issa, the Security Director of Ibrahim Khalil International Border Crossing, had abandoned his quarantine location and failed to follow other regulations set by the KRG High Committee to Combat Coronavirus after arriving in Erbil International Airport (EIA) from Germany on March 14,” read the order issued by the Directorate-General of Asayish (Security) of the autonomous Kurdistan Region.
It stipulated that, as the first step of Issa's punishment, the committee had decided to fire him from his post.
Ibrahim Khalil is the main crossing point between the Kurdistan Region and Turkey and is located in the northern province of Duhok.
Five days after flying into Erbil, Issa tested positive for the coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, on Thursday, making him the first person known to be infected in the province of Duhok.
“We ensure our beloved citizens that no one is above the law and violators will receive their proper legal punishments,” the Asayish order concludes.
The KRG has so far confirmed 47 cases of the coronavirus in total, including one dead and 13 fully recovered.