US ‘OUTRAGED’ BY DEADLY ROCKET ATTACKS ON IRAQ’S KURDISTAN REGION

Tue 16 February 2021:

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.

“Initial reports that Indirect Fire landed on Coalition Forces in Erbil tonight. There was 1 civilian contractor killed, 5 civilian contractors injured, and 1 US service member injured,” Coalition spokesman Colonel Wayne Marotto said on Twitter.

The spokesman confirmed that the contrator killed was not an Iraqi, and reportedly not an American either. Four of the five injured contractors, however, were US nationals, according to US media reports.

CCTV footage from the moment one of several rockets landed in Erbil pic.twitter.com/Zg3YW9ZCbE

— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) February 15, 2021

“We are outraged by today’s rocket attack in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. Initial reports indicate that the attacks killed one civilian contractor and injured several members of the Coalition, including one American service member and several American contractors,” Blinken said in a statement.

At least three rockets landed near the civilian airport in the Kurdish regional capital of Erbil, where foreign troops are based as part of an international alliance fighting the Islamic State group.

Security officials said the Erbil airport was shut down and flights were halted for safety issues.

Attacks on Erbil airport are rare, and the rockets were the first to strike the area in five months.

The rockets were launched from an area south of Erbil near the border with Kirkuk province and hit residential neighborhoods on the city’s outskirts, causing material damage to cars and other property.

According to a statement from the Kurdish interior ministry, a number of rockets were fired towards Erbil and its outskirts around 9:30 pm local time and some people were wounded.

It added that security agencies have launched a “detailed investigation” and urged civilians to stay home until further notice.

The attack was the deadliest to have hit US-led forces in Iraq for almost a year during which conflict in the region has escalated between American forces, their Iraqi and Kurdish allies on one side, and Iran-backed militia on the other.

It was the first time in nearly two months that a Western military or diplomatic installment was targeted in Iraq. This was also the first attack on the Erbil airport in five months.

A group calling itself Saraya Awliyaa al-Dam or “Guardians of Blood” claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it targeted the “American occupation” in Iraq. It provided no evidence for its claim.

Dozens of such groups have cropped up over the past year claiming responsibility for such attacks, but the US and Iraqi forces believe them to be fronts for prominent pro-Iran factions including Kataeb Hezbollah and Asaib Ahl al-Haq.