Iraq: Dozen ballistic missiles hit Kurdish capital Erbil, no casualties
A dozen ballistic missiles hit Iraq’s Erbil city in the northern Kurdish region on Sunday, and struck near a complex of the US consulate, officials said on Sunday.
The head of Kurdistan’s foreign media office said none of the missiles struck the US facility and noted that areas around the compound had been hit.
Authorities added that no casualties or injuries were reported in the incident. The consulate building is new and unoccupied.
Speaking to Erbil-based broadcaster Rudaw, governor Omed Khoshnaw said earlier that there was a terror attack against the US Consulate.
US defence officials also condemned the attack, terming it “outrageous”.
They said that though the number of missiles that were fired and their landing positions were still unclear, there has been no damage to any US government facility and there was no indication the target was the consulate building.
In a statement on Twitter, Iraqi prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said: “The aggression which targeted the dear city of Irbil and spread fear amongst its inhabitants is an attack on the security of our people.”
Condemnation also came from Masrour Barzani, prime minister of the semi-autonomous Kurdish-controlled region.
In a Facebook post, Mr Barzani said that Erbil “will not bow to the cowards who carried out the terrorist attack”.
An Iraqi official said that the ballistic missiles were fired from Iran, and added that the projectiles were the Iranian-made Fateh-110, likely to have been fired in retaliation for the deaths of two Revolutionary Guards in Syria.
The attack came amid escalating tensions between the US and Iran. The hostilities between the two countries has often played out in Iraq, whose government is allied with both countries.
US presence in Iraq came to a boil in January 2020 when a US drone strike near Baghdad airport killed a top Iranian general.
Qassem Soleimani, a top general in Iran’s military headed the expeditionary Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps responsible for the Islamic Republic’s foreign operations.
