Attacks on US forces violate Sudani’s authority: President Barzani

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani in Baghdad on Saturday said that attacking diplomatic missions and international coalition forces in Iraq is a violation of the authority of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani.

“Violating of the authority of the commander-in-chief of Iraqi armed forces by attacking diplomatic missions, international coalition forces, and the Peshmerga forces, sabotages the work of the government and creates obstacles in its road,” Barzani said at a ceremony commemorating Shiite cleric Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim. Sudani and Iraqi and Kurdish officials and party leaders were also in attendance.

Bases housing United States forces across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region have been the targets of a spate of drone attacks since October 17 in response to American support for Israel in its war against Palestinian Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a network of shadow Iraqi militia groups affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks. 

These attacks have “inflicted a lot of damage to the security and the lives of the citizens of the Kurdistan Region,” said Barzani.

Kurdish officials stepped up their condemnation of the attacks after a Peshmerga base in Pirmam, Erbil was the target of two suicide drones in late December. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said it held Baghdad responsible for the “cowardly attacks” by government-linked “outlaw” groups. 

Barzani, in his speech in Baghdad, said that the attacks have spread fear and disorder across Iraqi markets and allowed Islamic State (ISIS) militants the opportunity to intensify their attacks.

President Barzani also mentioned budget issues and problems paying the salaries of the Kurdistan Region’s civil servants.

“Due to the lack of budget and salary in the Kurdistan Region, employees and citizens live in a very dire situation. This has negatively affected all sectors in the Kurdistan Region,” he said, noting that solving the issue was the responsibility of everyone in Iraq, “since the Kurdistan Region and its employees are a part of Iraq.”

The frequent delay in paying salaries, which has been an issue for the cash-strapped KRG for nearly a decade, has made life difficult for civil servants, many of whom have no other source of income.

A KRG delegation headed by Finance Minister Awat Sheikh Janab went to Baghdad last week and met with Iraqi government officials to discuss amending the federal budget in a way that guarantees Kurdish civil servants receive their salaries on time. 

The KRG said in a statement on Wednesday that the talks have been “positive” and that Erbil had “fulfilled” its obligations.