Four civilians killed in missile attack on Erbil

On Monday night, four civilians lost their lives in a ballistic missile attack on Erbil.

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2024/01/16 01:39

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards claimed the attack on Erbil (Photo: Kurdistan24)

Kurdistan erbil attack Iran IRGC Missile attacks

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – On Monday night, four civilians lost their lives in a ballistic missile attack on Erbil. Moreover, six civilians were injured.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) have claimed responsibility for the assault, confirming that it was carried out using ballistic missiles.

The Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) later confirmed that four civilians lost their lives, while six others sustained injuries during the ballistic missile attack carried out by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards on Erbil on Monday night.

"The Revolutionary Guards said the attack targeted several positions of Iranian opposition groups. Unfortunately, they always use baseless excuses to attack Erbil and Erbil as a stable region has never been a source of threat to any party," the Kurdistan Region Security Council said.

"This is a blatant violation of the sovereignty of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq and the federal government and the international community must not remain silent about this crime."

Tonight’s unjustifed attacks in Erbil by the IRGC targeted a civilian house. The owner of the House, Peshraw Dizaiy and 4 member of his family lost their lives.
— Dr. Hemn Hawrami (@heminhawrami) January 15, 2024

Hemin Hawrami, a member of the KDP Politburo, also confirmed on X the death of Peshraw Dizayee, owner of Empire World company, and four of his family members in the 'unjustified attacks by the IRGC' on a civilian house.

Also the KDP's Foreign Relations account on X confirmed that a "number of civilians were killed including Peshraw Dizayee, the prominent Kurdish Businessman."

Erbil International Airport Director Ahmed Hoshyar told Kurdistan24 that there have been no disruption to flights at the Erbil airport.

Erbil Governor Omid Khoshnaw also told Kurdistan24 that Erbil is calm and the security forces and police have made all preparations.

Kurdistan Region's Minister for Transportation and Communication Ano Abdoka in a post on X underlined that the attack was crime against humanity.

"Terrorizing innocent children and women, exterminating a safe family, killing a successful businessman and his family members, terrorizing hundreds of thousands of citizens, and targeting a city that was and still is a beacon of coexistence, democracy, and freedom... This is a crime against all of humanity."

"Erbil and Kurdistan stood with the world and fought ISIS instead of the world. Isn’t it time for the world to stand with Erbil and Kurdistan?," he added.

US officials in later comments said no US facilities were targeted in the attack.

“We have seen the reports, and we tracked the missiles, which impacted in northern Iraq and northern Syria,” said White House national security council spokesperson Adrienne Watson, reported The Hill.

“We have been in touch with senior Iraqi officials as well as officials in the Kurdistan Region. Iran is claiming this is in response to the terrorist attacks in Kerman, Iran and Rask, Iran, with a focus on ISIS. We will continue to assess the situation, but initial indications are that this was a reckless and imprecise set of strikes. The United States supports the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Iraq.”