Rocket attack kills civilians, Americans in Iraq’s Erbil
ERBIL, KRG, Iraq (North Press) – A civilian contractor was killed, and five civilians and a U.S. service member were wounded, in a rocket attack on Erbil, spokesman for the US-led Global Coalition Wayne Marotto announced on Monday.
Multiple rockets hit the Kurdistan Region of Iraq’s capital of Erbil and its surrounding areas, and some targeted Erbil International Airport on Monday night.
UN Special Envoy to Iraq Jeanine Hennis denounced the rocket attack that hit Erbil International Airport.
Initial reports indicated that the attack killed one civilian contractor and injured several members of the Coalition, including one American service member and several American contractors.
“Iraq must be shielded from (external) rivalries. We call for restraint and for close Baghdad-Erbil collaboration to bring culprits to justice,” Hennis wrote on Twitter.
US outraged
The United States is outraged by the attacks that left one dead and injured several members of the US Coalition on the Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said early on Tuesday.
“I have reached out to Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani to discuss the incident and to pledge our support for all efforts to investigate and hold accountable those responsible,” he added.
Iraqi President Barham Saleh tweeted, “the attack marked a dangerous escalation and a criminal terrorist act against the national efforts to maintain the country and people’s security and safety.”
“We have no other alternative but to strengthen our efforts to uproot terror and the attempts to draw the country into chaos,” he added.
A group calling itself Saraya Awliya al-Dam (Guardians of Blood) claimed responsibility for the attack on the US-led base, saying it targeted the “American occupation” in Iraq, though it provided no evidence for its claim.
On September 30, 2020, six Katyusha rockets hit Erbil International Airport’s surroundings, while the anti-terror apparatus blamed Iranian-backed militia groups for orchestrating the attack.
A group, which some Iraqi officials say is affiliated with Iran, claimed responsibility for a series of attacks against Coalition forces and contactors working the Coalition and US installations, including the Embassy in Bagdad, in recent months.
In March 2020, another rocket attack killed two Americans and a British soldier.
Joint investigation committee
The Prime Minister of Iraq Mustafa al-Kadhimi ordered the establishment of an investigation committee following Monday’s rocket attack on Erbil, Tuesday.
“Al-Kadhimi found a joint committee in coordination with competent authorities in Kurdistan Region of Iraq to reveal the party after the rocket attack,” the Security Media Center said in a statement.
On Tuesday, Speaker of the Council of Representatives of Iraq Mohamed al-Halbousi denounced the rocket attack and tweeted, “We condemn the terrorist attack that targeted the safe Erbil, and such a criminal action expresses a dangerous escalation and addresses the country’s safety.”
Al-Halbousi called everybody to “cooperate for the sake of Iraq stability and sovereignty, and to subject those who violate the safety of people and country to the most severe penalty.”
On Tuesday, President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq Nechirvan Idris Barzani condemned the attack that left “a casualty and nine wounded including Americans.”
Barzani urged the Iraqi government to “implement the Iraqi constitution and especially article No. 140.”
Barzani called on the Security Council and the United Nations to take the risks of the rocket attack on Erbil, “seriously and work to halt threats against people of Kurdistan Region of Iraq.”
He called for coordination between Iraqi forces, Global Coalition, Peshmerga, and the Internal Security Forces (Asayish) in the area and he pointed out to the incoordination and deployment of illegal forces and armed groups deepening the crisis in the area.