ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - At least six rockets landed in Erbil province’s Khabat district on Sunday, targeting a key oil refinery in the area and causing minor material damage. No casualties were reported.
The rockets originated from Nineveh province, the Kurdistan Region’s counter-terrorism directorate said, adding that they were fired from the proximity of the al-Hamdaniya district where the Iran-linked Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF or Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic) have a strong presence.
Erbil Governor Omed Koshnaw confirmed to Rudaw that the attack caused no civilian or material damage.
However, early Monday Iraqi Security Media Cell confirmed that "several" rockets had targeted the Kawergosk oil refinery which led to a hit on “one of the main oil terminals of the refinery” and set it ablaze. The fire was contained later, without causing civilians casualties.
The forces also said they had found a launch pad and four missiles after the attack and diffused them.
Hadi Salimi, Rudaw’s reporter on the ground, said that the rockets were likely targeting the Kawergosk oil refinery, which was the target of last month’s attack.
The oil refinery is one of the largest refineries in the Kurdistan Region and is operated by the Iraqi-Kurdish oil company KAR Group.
The Kurdistan Region Security Council late Sunday warned the perpetrators of the attack saying “they will pay the price.”
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
According to the Peshmerga ministry, the site of the attack has previously been targeted “several times by Katyusha rockets.”
A number of Katyusha rockets landed in the Khabat district on April 6, targeting the refinery. The rocket fire came less than a month after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed firing a dozen ballistic missiles on Erbil under the pretext of targeting an Israeli base.
At least four of the missiles landed on a property belonging to the CEO and founder of KAR Group, Baz Karim Barzinji.
Kurdish authorities have rejected the presence of Israeli bases in the Kurdish capital.
Earlier on Sunday, Karim in a statement said that there were no justifications for the Iranian missile strikes on his property in March, and thanked an Iraqi parliamentary fact-finding committee after it found no evidence for Iran’s accusations.
Updated at 8:01 am on May 2 with Security Media Cell and Kurdistan Security Council statements
