Kurdish Peshmerga expat died after defusing 5,000 IS bombs
A Germany-based Kurdish expatriate who had returned to the Kurdistan Region to contribute in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) was critically injured on Thursday after defusing over 5,000 booby traps.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – A Germany-based Kurdish expatriate who had returned to the Kurdistan Region to contribute in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) was critically injured on Thursday after defusing over 5,000 booby traps.
Following the IS attack on Kurdistan in 2014, Dr. Sleman Saeed joined the Kurdish Peshmerga engineering team as a volunteer.
He had defused over 5,000 Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in the Kurdistan Region, and mainly around Mosul, planted by IS.
The 68-year-old had 26 years of experience in defusing bombs and explosive devices and had saved the lives of several Peshmerga soldiers.
While defusing an IED bomb in northern Mosul, Saeed was critically injured after the explosive detonated. The Peshmerga was transported to a hospital in Germany where he died on Oct. 30 due to his injuries.
Saeed defused an IS vehicle laden with almost five tons of explosives in November after the liberation of the Kurdish Yezidi (Ezidi) city of Sinjar (Shingal). He later used the same vehicle for his work with the engineering team.
“When IS attacked Kurdistan, I couldn’t stay in Germany and watch. So, I decided to join Peshmerga in Kurdistan as a volunteer,” he previously told Kurdistan24 during the program Sarbazi Win, Kurdish for Unknown Soldier.
Saeed fought along with the Kurdish rebel group the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) for 10 years. He left the party and moved to Germany more than a decade ago.
One of the military tactics IS uses in the fight against Peshmerga and Iraqi security forces are planting IED bombs or booby traps.
Kurdish and Iraqi military commanders have repeatedly stated IEDs are the main obstacle that slows down their advance in the fight against IS.
Editing by Ava Homa and Karzan Sulaivany