Kurdish teacher killed in Sweden's deadly mass shooting

Aziza Hamaamin. Photo: submitted
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Kurdish woman was among the victims of a school shooting in Sweden earlier this month that left 11 people dead. Her family described her as a dedicated teacher who took pride in her Kurdish heritage and helped fellow immigrants.

Last Tuesday, a gunman opened fire at Risbergska school in Orebro, 200 kilometers west of Stockholm, in what Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called the “worst mass shooting in Swedish history.”

Among the victims was 68-year-old Aziza Hamaamin, a Kurdish teacher originally from Shaqlawa in Erbil province.

“She was kind to children and adults,” her cousin Shahrzad Ali told Rudaw’s Dilnya Rahman. “She loved her mother tongue,” she added, emphasizing Hamaamin’s pride in her local Kurdish accent unique to Shaqlawa.

Ali noted that Hamaamin was not scheduled to work on the day of the attack but was at the school because “she wanted to help anyone who needed it.”

“She helped all immigrants, especially Kurds,” said another cousin, Shwan Ali, adding that Hamaamin ran a YouTube channel where she taught the Kurdish language.