A Syrian father was injured on Wednesday after setting himself on fire by pouring gasoline over himself and liting a match in protest against his son's abduction by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.
The man has been identified as Syrian refugee man, Walid Abdurrahman, who fled into the northern Iraqi province of Suleymaniyah due to the ongoing conflict in his hometown.
Witnesses said the man was staging a sit-in outside the office of the Syrian Democratic Union Party's, or PYD, to protest his son's abduction before attempting to kill himself.
The refugee man attempted to set himself afire later on in the day after PYD officials turned down his demand to hand over his 15 year-old son, Brin, that he said was kidnapped by the PKK militants.
Several locals nearby ripped their shirts off in an attempt to subdue the flames, which engulfed his body. The father was hospitalized immediately after the incident and remains in the hospital for treatment.
