A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter used his bulletproof BMW to rescue dozens of civilians who came under fire by the Islamic State in northern Iraq last month.
Ako Abdulrahman, 32, who owns the car, drove 70 wounded soldiers and civilians to a hospital in the city of Kirkuk as ISIS gunmen showered his vehicle with bullets. Local rescuers were largely unable to access the area due to indiscriminate attacks by ISIS militants, CNN reported.
"I told myself, this is the right time to help people, this is the right moment to do it. I am a fighter and I have a bulletproof car, shame on me if I can't help," Abdulrahman said. "I kept telling myself, my people are in danger, they need me, my city is in danger, I have to protect it."
Dozens of ISIS fighters carried out attacks against security forces and civilians across Kirkuk on Oct. 21, killing 64 people while leaving 84 jihadists dead.
Abdulrahman, who had recently bought the $10,000 BMW at an auction, decided to use the car as an ambulance to ferry the wounded to safety. He said he also transported dead bodies away from the scene before his car finally broke down due to the damage.
"In my car, I carried Sunni, Shiite, Kurds, Turkmen, and Christians. I felt like I am truly Iraq and this is who everyone should be," he told CNN.