Hawkar Salih, a resident of Said Sadiq and a member of the Peshmerga forces, was killed on March 24, 2025, when a landmine exploded while he was gathering spring herbs in the Penjwin district of Sulaimani governorate.
Fourth incident in March
Landmine kills man gathering herbs in Penjwen
SULAYMANIYAH — A man was killed Monday morning when a landmine exploded while he was collecting spring herbs near the village of Siyamawa, in the Nalparez subdistrict of Penjwen, Sulaymaniyah governorate.
“The incident happened early this morning,” Hemn Ibrahim, mayor of Penjwen, told 964media. “The person who was killed by the landmine was a Peshmerga soldier and a resident of Said Sadiq. He was around 40 years old and had gone to the area to gather spring herbs.”
The victim was identified as Hawkar Salih.
It was the fourth landmine incident this month involving people foraging for wild herbs in Kurdistan Region’s mountainous terrain.
On March 17, 20-year-old Dilshad Mahmood from Tarratawana village was killed after stepping on a landmine in the nearby village of Korramew, also in Penjwen. “The young man had gone to gather wild spring herbs last night when he unknowingly entered a minefield,” Ibrahim said at the time.
The previous week, a 58-year-old man died after triggering a landmine in the Rola mountains near Dargala village in Erbil governorate’s Rawanduz district. He had been gathering herbs with his son and a companion.