ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Several explosions were heard in Erbil on Wednesday evening, with eyewitnesses and residents in the northern part of the Kurdish capital telling Rudaw that the blasts were caused by drones. The series of attacks notably coincides with the landmark visit of Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to the United States.
Video footage obtained by Rudaw showed projectiles exploding in the sky over the Ganjan City residential community on the northeastern outskirts of Erbil along the Baharka road, as well as over the predominantly Christian suburb of Ankawa in the northern part of the Kurdish capital.
A Kurdish security source also told Rudaw that at least “six one-way attack drones were intercepted over Erbil.”
The timing
The series of attacks comes as Iraqi Prime Minister Zaidi began a landmark visit to the United States on Monday, where he met with US President Donald Trump and senior American officials to discuss elevating Baghdad-Washington ties to a partnership level.
Zaidi on Wednesday met with US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to discuss ways to enhance military cooperation with Iraq. “To deepen our partnership, Iraq must assert its sovereignty and disarm the Iran-aligned militias responsible for 600+ attacks on U.S. personnel this spring,” Hegseth said in a statement on X.
Notably, ahead of the visit, the Iran-aligned Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) group expressed its “principled rejection” of the trip, citing ongoing US-Israeli military operations against “innocent people in Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, and Palestine.”
In a statement released Sunday, the IRI said “the continued presence of US forces on Iraqi soil represents an occupation,” adding that “one of the government’s priorities must be to work, through various means, to end it according to the announced schedule” by the end of September.
The IRI emerged in the immediate aftermath of the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023 and includes powerful Iraqi armed groups including the Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, Kata’ib Hezbollah, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba and Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada.
In late February, the US and Israel launched a coordinated military campaign against Iran, carrying out thousands of strikes across the country.
In response, Tehran launched thousands of drone and missile strikes across the Middle East, targeting alleged US assets in the region, particularly in Gulf Arab states, while also carrying out retaliatory attacks against Israel.
The Iranian response has also involved armed groups aligned with the Tehran-led ‘Axis of Resistance,’ including factions affiliated with the IRI. In early April, the umbrella group claimed to have carried out more than 750 attacks against alleged US targets across Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region, since the start of the Iran war.
According to Rudaw tracking, the majority of the attacks were concentrated in Erbil province, which recorded 560 drone and missile attacks by early April.
The US and Iran agreed on April 8 to a preliminary Pakistan-brokered ceasefire to create space for negotiations. On the same day, the IRI announced a halt to its military operations, which have since significantly declined.
This is a developing story ....
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