Boy shot dead by PMF gunman in Kirkuk village, residents say

KIRKUK — An 11-year-old boy was allegedly shot and killed by a Popular Mobilization Forces gunman while sitting with other children in front of his home in Brij village, according to local residents who say this marks the second such shooting incident in the area.

The shooting occurred Monday night in the village located in Abbas subdistrict of Hawija district in Kirkuk governorate, near the border with Salah Al-Din governorate.

“Haider Mohammed, my 11-year-old student, was shot by a Popular Mobilization Forces security gunman from inside an outpost at a distance of 300 meters,” said Nader Nasih, the victim’s teacher. “He was with a group of other children when it happened.”

Nasih said a similar incident occurred recently when a girl was shot and seriously wounded.

“We demand the government address the Popular Mobilization Forces’ assaults on innocent citizens,” Nasih said.

A Popular Mobilization Forces intelligence source told 964media that the shooter fired from inside an outpost, and that his colleagues told him the people were known locals from the village, but he ignored them and opened fire anyway. The alleged gunman has now been detained at a Popular Mobilization Forces military base.

Brij village, populated by Sunni Arabs, sits at the far edge of Kirkuk governorate bordering Salah Al-Din. During the Islamic State period between 2014-2017, it was among the villages that suffered the heaviest casualties.