Iraq News Now

What is known about Saturday’s incident is that it occurred in the early morning. According to Col. Wayne Marotto, director of public affairs and spokesperson of Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR), “from open sources, I was informed that a probable drone hit a private residential house. There were no attacks at ISF facilities were US/Coalition troops are co-located in Erbil. No group has claimed responsibility for this attack.” He noted that “as I have said time and again; Each attack against the Government of Iraq, Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the Coalition undermines the authority of Iraqi institutions, the rule of law and Iraqi National sovereignty. The Coalition’s goal is to set conditions for security & stability to allow the economy to prosper. Outlaw militia groups and/or Daesh don’t want security and stability – they want aggrieved people for their poisonous ideology to resonate.” Usually Iran-backed militias use the cover of night to attack and carry out attacks closer to midnight. Drones have been used to target the Kurdistan region in the past because the region is autonomous and has its own security it is harder for pro-Iran groups to strike US forces who are protected at the airport. Erbil International Airport is an important and modern airport. Last year pro-Iran groups used rockets to target an area near the airport and earlier this year in February rockets again were fired at Erbil and the airport.