Iran's state television announced on Sunday that missile attacks on Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq, targeted "secret Israeli bases." Kurdish officials reported that dozens of ballistic missiles launched from outside Iraq struck Erbil earlier today, noting that there were no casualties.
The Security Media Cell in Iraq stated in a communiqué that "the city of Erbil was attacked after midnight on Saturday-Sunday with several missiles that fell in various locations," indicating that "security forces have begun an investigation into the incident." The Counter-Terrorism Service in the Kurdistan region of Iraq reported that an attack of "12 ballistic missiles" targeted Erbil and the U.S. consulate there.
The Counter-Terrorism Service statement added that the missiles were launched "from outside the borders of the Kurdistan region and Iraq, specifically from the east." Iraq has a vast eastern border with Iran, which wields political and economic influence in Iraq and supports armed factions. The statement mentioned that "at one o'clock after midnight, the city of Erbil was targeted with 12 ballistic missiles," and that "the missiles were directed at the U.S. consulate in Erbil."
It clarified that "the missiles were launched from outside the borders of Iraq and the Kurdistan region, specifically from the east," adding that the attack did not result in "loss of life, only material damage." Since the U.S. assassination of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani and Deputy Head of the Popular Mobilization Forces Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in January 2020, dozens of attacks have targeted U.S. interests in Iraq with missiles and drones.
No group typically claims responsibility for these attacks, but Washington attributes them to Iraqi factions loyal to Iran that demand the complete withdrawal of U.S. forces present in Iraq as part of the international coalition against ISIS. In response to Soleimani's assassination, Iran targeted the Ain al-Assad base in the west and the Erbil base in the north with 22 ballistic missiles on January 8, 2020, which housed U.S. forces in Iraq.
