Iranian Revolutionary Guard claims responsibility for Erbil bombardment
One of the explosions caused by the bombardment launched by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Erbil. Photo: Warfare Analysis/X
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iranian Revolutionary Guard claimed responsibility for the ballistic missile bombing that targeted the city of Erbil in northern Iraq, indicating that it attacked espionage centers and gatherings of anti-Iranian terrorist groups in the city.
“We announce that the headquarters of spies and anti-Iranian terrorist gatherings in parts of the region were targeted at midnight using ballistic missiles,” the Iranian Revolutionary Guard said in a statement.
The statement added that the bombardment is in response to recent crimes committed by Iran’s enemies.
The Revolutionary Guard said that it targeted a Mossad center in Erbil, noting that the center is a headquarters for developing and launching espionage operations and planning terrorist activities in the region, especially against Iran.
There were no American deaths from the missile attacks in Iraq, according to two US sources who spoke with Reuters. The missiles did not target any US facilities.
Local sources said that explosions were heard about 40 kilometers from Erbil in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, in an area close to the US consulate and a residential area.
Two medical sources said that two dead and five wounded civilians were taken to a local hospital after the explosions.
According to security officials, flights at Erbil International Airport in northern Iraq were halted following the explosions heard in the city.
The Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) mentioned in a statement that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard fired several ballistic missiles at civilian areas in Erbil, killing four civilians and wounding six others.
Iran bombarded more than once sites of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups, whom Tehran accuses of participating in the protests that shook Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022, after she was arrested by the Iranian morality police.
Iraq and Iran concluded a security agreement last March, but Tehran demanded that Iraq disarm Iranian Kurdish opposition groups and evacuate them to camps.
The Iraqi Foreign Minister, Fuad Hussein, stated earlier that these groups have been in the Kurdistan region of Iraq for four or five decades.
Hussein also elaborated that these groups have been moved from the border areas with Iran to remote camps in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.