Erbil police arrest Khurshid Herki and brother over deadly 2025 clashes

ERBIL — Erbil police said Sunday they had arrested tribal leader Khurshid Herki and his brother, Haider Latif, on judicial warrants over the killing of a Peshmerga soldier and a civilian in deadly clashes last year, along with other alleged offenses.

The Erbil Police Directorate said the two were detained early Sunday in Khabat district after complaints were filed and a judge issued arrest warrants. Police accused the brothers of a series of offenses over the past year, including stirring unrest, damaging public and private property, burning Peshmerga military equipment, and killing a Peshmerga soldier and a civilian. The statement also accused them of inciting people against the law, obstructing government projects and threatening economic infrastructure across the district.

The arrests follow clashes on the evening of July 8, 2025, in Gardarash village in Khabat, when security forces entered the area to arrest Herki on charges of causing public disorder. Armed supporters resisted, setting off gun battles that ran into the next day. Two people were killed: Falah Hassan, a Zeravani Peshmerga soldier from Kifri, and Masoud Salih, a member of the Herki tribe. Videos shared online at the time showed two military Humvees ablaze.

The confrontation had followed an armed dispute days earlier between the Herki and Goran tribes over agricultural land in the Bashiriyan, Kalkana and Hanjarok areas. Authorities later said security was restored in Gardarash after mediation by government officials, political figures and local leaders, and the Kurdistan Region’s Interior Ministry said the conflict stemmed from a dispute over agricultural land ownership and that a formal investigation had begun. Herki said at the time that a committee had been formed to investigate and pledged to accept its findings.