Kurdistan Region hit by 855 drone, missile attacks since outbreak of Iran war: Rudaw

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Region has endured approximately 855 drone and missile attacks since the outbreak of the Iran-Israel conflict in late February, resulting in at least 20 deaths and nearly 130 injuries, according to Rudaw tracking data published on Thursday, with the latest attack recorded the day before.

According to data compiled by Rudaw, the Kurdistan Region has been struck by 855 drones and missiles since the beginning of the six-week conflict, resulting in 20 fatalities and 128 injuries.

Since the beginning of May alone, the Region has experienced 25 drone and missile attacks, 18 of which struck areas in Erbil province, while the remaining seven targeted Kurdistan’s eastern Sulaimani province.

The United States and Israel launched a large-scale aerial campaign against Iran in late February, striking thousands of targets across the country during six weeks of hostilities.

In response, Iran carried out thousands of drone and missile strikes across the Middle East, targeting alleged US assets - particularly in Gulf Arab states - as well as launching retaliatory attacks against Israel.

The Iranian response 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 the region, including in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.

Iran and its allied factions have also ramped up its attacks on Kurdish dissident groups in the Region.

Rudaw’s figures further show that the attacks were distributed unevenly across the Kurdistan Region, with Erbil being the most affected, recording 580 attacks. Sulaimani followed with 244 attacks, while the northern Duhok province endured 29 attacks and the eastern Halabja province was targeted twice.

The attacks have also resulted in the deaths of seven Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and a member of the Asayish internal security forces at Erbil International Airport, as well as a married couple killed in a drone strike on their home.

Among the dead are also 12 fighters from Iranian Kurdish opposition groups in the Kurdistan Region, along with one of their family members and a French soldier.

The latest attack occurred late Wednesday, when two drones launched from Iran struck a base belonging to the Komala Toilers of Kurdistan near Sulaimani, according to a party statement, with no injuries reported.

The incident came just days after four “Iranian missiles” hit another base belonging to the same Kurdish opposition group southwest of Sulaymaniyah on Monday, injuring at least two people, a party official told Rudaw.

The US and Iran agreed to a Pakistan-mediated ceasefire on April 8, halting hostilities to allow space for negotiations. While the first round of talks concluded without a final agreement on April 11, a second round has yet to take place, and the conflict has not fully ended.

Despite the truce, the Kurdistan Region continues to experience attacks by Iran and Iran-aligned armed groups in Iraq, amid repeated assertions from Kurdish officials that the Region is neither a party to the conflict nor does it allow its territory to be used as a launchpad for attacks against Iran.