Kurdistan
Undated picture of Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani and Jordan's King Abdullah II. File photo: Kurdistan Region Presidency
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Sunday received a letter from Jordan’s King Abdullah II, in which the king “strongly condemned” a drone attack that targeted the Kurdish president’s residence the previous day, and expressed his condolences for the killing and wounding of several Peshmerga fighters in a Tuesday attack in Erbil, which has been blamed on Iran-aligned Iraqi armed groups.
The Kurdistan Region Presidency said in a statement that President Barzani received “a letter from the King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in which His Majesty… strongly condemned yesterday’s [Saturday’s] drone attack on President Barzani’s residence in [the Region’s northern] Duhok province, affirming his country’s support for the Kurdistan Region and for the security and stability of Iraq.”
The US and Israel on February 28 launched a coordinated military campaign against Iran, with US Central Command (CENTCOM) reporting on Saturday that more than 11,000 targets across Iran have been struck so far.
In response, Tehran has carried out thousands of drone and missile strikes across the Middle East, targeting alleged US assets in the region - particularly in Gulf Arab states - as well as launching retaliatory attacks against Israel.
The Iranian response has also involved Iraqi armed groups aligned with the Tehran-led “Axis of Resistance,” with several factions claiming responsibility for attacks on purported US targets in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. The latest incident included a drone attack targeting President Barzani’s residence in Duhok.
According to Rudaw tracking, roughly 500 drone and missile attacks have been launched at the Kurdistan Region since late February, with at least 50 carried out just last night.
The Jordanian King on Sunday also “offered his condolences and sympathy” to President Barzani and the “families of the martyrs of the drone attack that targeted the Soran area on [Tuesday] March 24,” expressing hope for the speedy recovery of the injured.
Six Kurdish Peshmerga fighters were killed and more than 20 others wounded in the Tuesday attack, marking the deadliest of its kind so far, which involved several missile strikes on a Kurdish base in Soran, northeast of Erbil.
The Peshmerga Command Area One then reported that the headquarters of Division 7 of the Kurdish forces was struck twice - first at 1:50 am local time with five missiles, causing no casualties, and again at 2:50 am with a single missile. The statement did not specify casualties from the second strike.
A day later, on Wednesday, three Peshmerga fighters were wounded in two separate drone attacks on bases in Erbil and the Region’s eastern Sulaimani province, according to the Peshmerga ministry.
Rudaw has learned that outlawed groups have carried out more than ten attacks on Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Peshmerga forces over the past three weeks. The Peshmerga ministry last week called on the federal government in Baghdad to rein in the groups responsible for the attacks.
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