Two killed battling wildfire in Halabja, including local volunteer and environmental officer

HALABJA — Two people have died trying to contain a large wildfire that broke out Sunday in forested and agricultural areas near the villages of Chnar and Modrin in Halabja Governorate. The fire remains uncontained.

Ari Mukhtar, a 28-year-old local volunteer, was the first casualty. Witnesses said Mukhtar, who was at his workplace when he received a phone call about the blaze, immediately rushed to the scene despite pleas from friends not to go. “I told him not to go, but he said, ‘for God’s sake, I will go,’” recalled his close friend Suhaib Zahir. “Sadly, he never came back.” Mukhtar was injured while trying to battle the fire and later died at a hospital.

Hours later, Mohammed Sheikh Haidar, a member of the Police Directorate of Forestry and Environment in Halabja also died while responding to the large wildfire. The department confirmed his death Monday and extended condolences to the officer’s family, friends, and colleagues.

News of Mukhtar’s death spread quickly through social media, where he was hailed as “the Martyr of the Environment.” Friends, colleagues, and environmental activists have since gathered to pay tribute, saying his sacrifice highlighted both the risks faced by volunteers and the devastating toll of recurring wildfires in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region.

The Ayinda Organization for Environmental Protection released a statement describing his death as a national tragedy. “It is worrying that some people take pleasure in burning and destroying the environment, fields, and forests. Sadly, these acts have cost the lives of many caring people devoted to their country,” the group said. It called on judicial authorities to prosecute those responsible for deliberate fires “under terrorism and treason laws.”

The group’s head, Marouf Majid, told 964media that Mukhtar’s sacrifice deserved recognition. “Just as those who fall in defense of the land are given the title ‘martyr of the homeland,’ Ari and all others who sacrifice their lives for the environment are martyrs of the environment,” he said.

Mukhtar worked at a small kebab shop in Halabja, where his keys were still hanging after he rushed out to fight the blaze. The shop has remained closed, and his friends and coworkers are now gathering there in mourning.