PM Barzani condoles the death of former Japanese Prime Minister

Shafaq News / The Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region, Masrour Barzani, offered condolences to the family of Japan's former Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, who was shot down earlier today.

Barzani said in a tweet, "I am deeply saddened by today's news of the tragic death of Japan's former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe."

"My thoughts are with his family and the Japanese people at this difficult time", he added.

Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japan's longest-serving leader, died on Friday hours after he was shot while campaigning for a parliamentary election, shocking a country in which political violence is rare and guns are tightly controlled.

A man opened fire on Abe, 67, from behind with an apparently homemade gun as he spoke at a drab traffic island in the western city of Nara, Japanese media reported.