Story highlights A Peshmerga fighter saved dozens from ISIS snipers with his bulletproof BMW

Ako Abdulrahman drove more than 70 of the wounded to safety

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Irbil, Iraq (CNN) When Ako Abdulrahman came under attack from ISIS militants advancing around the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, he realized he needed protection.

The Kurdish Peshmerga fighter decided to invest in an armored car, but he had little clue the vehicle would end up saving the lives of dozens of people.

After shopping around, he settled on a bulletproof BMW, and paid $10,000 for the early 1990s model at a car auction.

"My friends were very happy when I bought the armored car," he tells CNN. "We started driving in it to the front line near Kirkuk, not worried about ISIS drive-by shootings or roadside bombs."

Abdulrahman, 32, lives with his wife and four children in Taza Khurmatou, some 23 kilometers south of Kirkuk.

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