Kurdistan security arrest suspects in Turkish diplomat killing in Erbil
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Saturday announced the arrest of a lead suspect in the Erbil shooting three days earlier that resulted in the death of a Turkish diplomat and two locals.
The incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon when a gunman suddenly opened fire on a group of employees and diplomats from the Turkish consulate in Erbil who were dining at an upscale restaurant.
Two were killed instantly, including a high-level Turkish consular official, and another was critically injured and later died while receiving medical care at a nearby hospital.
“The main perpetrator responsible for the Erbil restaurant shooting on July 17 has now been arrested by the Counter-Terrorism Unit of Kurdistan Region, following a large-scale search operation,” the KRG said in a statement.
On Thursday evening, the Kurdistan Region’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) identified the lead suspect in their investigation into the deadly incident as a man in his twenties by the name of Mazloum Dagh, born in the Kurdish city of Diyarbakir (Amed) in Turkey.
“We commend the security forces, counter-terrorism unit, and people of Kurdistan, and ensure that operations will continue until all individuals involved in the shooting are arrested and brought to justice,” the KRG statement added.
In a follow-up statement, the CTD said they had also detained an alleged accomplice of Dagh in the shooting. They named him as Muhammad Biskisz, who also goes by three other names: Dizhwar, Mamand, and Yusif.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany