ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Renewed strikes targeted the Provinces of Sulaimani and Erbil late Friday following one of Tehran’s deadliest attacks on the Kurdistan Region earlier in the day.
“We strongly condemn the attacks on the city of Sulaimani and Kurdistan. We reiterate that the Kurdistan Region and the local government of Sulaimani, maintaining neutrality and responsibility, are not a part of the war that has engulfed the region,” Sulaimani governor Haval Abubaker posted on Facebook.
“Several drones from the airspace of Balakayati (Bordering Iran in Erbil’s province) are heading toward Erbil,” according to a Rudaw reporter.
Strikes have targeted Tasluja, north of Sulaimani’s Jalal Talabni International Airport and several explosions were heard over Erbil, following similar attacks earlier in the day against Kurdish dissident group Komala Toilers of Kurdistan, which resulted in the deaths of nine of its members and several others wounded.
“Massive fire in the depots of separatist groups' headquarters in Erbil and Sulaimani” Iran’s Islamic Republican Guard Corps (IRGC) affilated Fars News reported.
Earlier in the day, the Kurdistan Region Security Agency confirmed that “a total of seven missiles” were fired - four at Zirgwez, one at Qasdri and two near Grdi Kopani villages in Sulaimani.
“A detailed investigation by our teams is ongoing to determine the human and material damages caused by the attacks,” the Agency added.
In addition to the attacks recorded in Sulaimani, several drones were intercepted over Erbil, the Kurdistan Region's capital, in the early hours of Friday.
The Erbil-based Counter-Terrorism Directorate confirmed that "between 4:19 and 5:25 am [local time], [US-led] Coalition forces intercepted and shot down eight bomb-laden drones in the skies over Erbil," adding that the incidents left no casualties."
Meanwhile, the Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT), a US-based human rights organization that monitors conflicts, reported Friday that since the late-February onset of the Iran war, “30 people have lost their lives and 114 others have been injured” in the Kurdistan Region in attacks launched by Iran and “its affiliated groups in Iraq.”
This is a developing story …
