Iranian Missiles And Drone Serang Kurdish Region In Iraq, One People Died

Illustration of the launch of Iran's Shahab-3 ballistic missile. (Wikimedia Commons/Hossein Velayati)

JAKARTA - The United States has condemned Iran's missile and drone attacks on Kurdish territory in northern Iraq, which reportedly killed one person.

Nabaz Abdulhamid, Mayor of Erbil, the capital of the region, told news outlet Kurdi Rudaw, the Iranian-Kurdi opposition group was targeted for Monday morning attacks on the Erbil governorship border.

Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran's elite armed forces, claimed the attack on Telegram's social media site.

"A member of the peshmerga was killed in an Iranian attack on the Koysinjaq (Koya) area," said an official from the Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party (PDKI), citing Arab News from AFP November 21.

PDKI said drones and missiles also attacked a refugee camp. The organization did not mention any casualties.

"We condemn Iran's cross-border missiles tonight and unmanned aerial vehicle attacks near Erbil, Iraq," CENTCOM, US military headquarters in the Middle East, Monday, told The National News.

Iraq's Kurdistan counter-terrorism department previously said "The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has again bombarded Iran's Kurdish parties" Sunday night, without specifying whether there were any casualties.

On Saturday, Esmail Ghazani, an Iranian Quds Force commander, was in Baghdad where he reportedly warned Iran could carry out ground attacks on the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq to target Kurdish dissidents, to blame Iran for fomenting unrest.

About 400 protesters and 50 members of the security forces were killed during protests in Iran in the past two months, triggered by the death of Kurdish-Iran woman Mahsa Amini (22) while in a moral police custody, because she was deemed not dressed according to the provisions.

Demonstrators initially called for more women's rights, before demanding better living conditions amid high inflation and a shortage of basic necessities.

The attack follows a series of missile and drone attacks in the Kurdish region last week, which also targeted the PDKI in Koya, killing at least two people.

PDKI said Iran had targeted it with suicide missiles and drones in Koya and Jejnikan, near Irbil, Iraq's Kurdistan capital.

"This indiscriminate attack occurred at a time when Iran's terrorist regime could not stop the ongoing demonstration in Kurdistan (Iran)," said PDKI, Iran's oldest Kurdish party.

Meanwhile, Iran's Kurdish nationalist group Komala said the attack also targeted its installation in northern Iraq.

"Our base is once again attacked by the Islamic regime tonight. We have prepared carefully for this type of attack and have suffered no losses for now," he said on Twitter.

The attacks were widely criticized by the United Nations and the Iraqi government for violating Iraqi sovereignty.

"Irak should not be used as an arena for problem solving and its territorial integrity must be respected," the United Nations said.

It is known that Koya has repeatedly been targeted by Iranian attacks and hit Iranian missile salvo in 2018, which hit the PDKI office, killing 18 people.