A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter is being hailed as a local hero in Iraq after he saved the lives of 70 people from an ISIS attack in Kirkuk in Iraq, using his bulletproof BMW car, CNN reported.
32-year-old Ako Abdulrahman recently bought an armoured BMW car for $10,000 in an auction so that he could drive around Kirkuk without any threat of getting shot at by ISIS militants.
As Kurdish and Iraqi forces converged on ISIS stronghold Mosul, the militant organisation has recently mounted several coordinated attacks in the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, allegedly to distract state forces, The Guardian reported.
On Oct 21, militants started indiscriminate firing, including using rooftop sharpshooters with snipers to gun down civilians and security forces.
Abdulrahman, who is himself part of the Kurdish force’s Tuz Khurmatu frontline, claims he was on a mission when his friend intimated him about the attack.
He reportedly rushed back to Kirkuk, and allegedly used his “ultimate driving machine”, the bulletproof Beamer, to transport almost 70 wounded people to medical aid, The Sun reported. His car was allegedly shot at by jihadists more than 50 times.
“No one was able to approach them due to the IS snipers. Therefore we decided to help those wounded people since bullets could not penetrate my car.”, The Mirror quoted Abdulrahman as saying.
According to media reports, Abdulrahman was offered a 500,000 Iraqi dinars by Kirkuk’s governor Najmaldin Karim as a reward for his bravery. The 32 -year-old however allegedly offended by the reward, claiming it was his duty as a Peshmegra fighter, to protect the people.
The car, which did not survive the onslaught of bullets, will reportedly be displayed at a local museum as a symbol of the resilience and bravery of Kirkuk’s people.
Almost 100 people died in the Oct 21 attack.
Feature Image Source: Twitter/@Maxim