No excuse can be made for attacking a civilian house: KRG Minister
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – No "excuse can be made for this outrageous attack" on the house of Sheikh Baz Karim Barzinji, CEO of the Iraqi Kurdish oil company KAR group, the Kurdistan Region's Minister for Transportation and Communication Ano Abdoka tweeted on Tuesday
A delegation of Chaldean, Assyrian, and Syriac bishops, which included Abdoka, himself a Christian, visited Kurdistan 24 and the house of Sheikh Baz Karim Barzinji on Tuesday to show their solidarity.
Read More: Christian religious leaders visit Kurdistan 24 to show solidarity after missile attack
Thread /Today with our beloved bishops of the Chaldean, Assyrian, and Syriac churches we visited the civilian house targeted by the missile attacks against our peaceful city Erbil, & we witnessed the enormous devastation, &damage caused to this house and the surrounding areas 1/3 pic.twitter.com/TTN3xZUuwS
— Ano Abdoka ܐܢܘ 𒀭𒀀𒉡 (@AnoAbdoka) March 15, 2022
"Today with our beloved bishops of the Chaldean, Assyrian, and Syriac churches we visited the civilian house targeted by the missile attacks against our peaceful city Erbil, and we witnessed the enormous devastation, and damage caused to this house and the surrounding areas," Abdoka said.
"Mr. Baz Kareem is a well known citizen of Erbil and a distinguished businessman. It makes No sense to attack a civilian family house claiming to be something else, really NO excuse can be made for this outrageous attack."
A video from the visit from Christian bishops and Transport Minister @AnoAbdoka to the house of Sheikh Baz yesterday shows the devastation after the attack. pic.twitter.com/UbimPTMY5F
— Wladimir (@vvanwilgenburg) March 16, 2022
He added he was touched by the sadness of some of the victims he saw during his visit.
"I was touched by the sadness on the face of Mr. Baz's son, Ahmad, as a young man he witnessed the terror of war for the 1st time in his life, to see his family house destroyed, his personal car destroyed, his belongings damaged..attackers you owe this young man and this family an apology!" he declared.
On Sunday, 12 ballistic missiles were fired at the Kurdistan Region's capital, causing substantial damage to residential buildings and the Kurdistan 24 headquarters. Six missiles hit the house of Sheikh Baz Karim Barzinji.
Read More: 'We are not a party to any conflict': PM Barzani affirms during visit to missile attack site
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi visited the Kurdistan Region on Monday and was received by Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. The two visited the site of the missile attack to survey the damage.
Sheikh Baz Karim Barzinji, CEO of the Iraqi Kurdish oil company KAR group, in an interview with Kurdistan 24 on Tuesday, asked the Iranian Ambassador to Iraq and other ambassadors to visit his house.
Read More: KAR group CEO invites Iranian Ambassador to visit his house destroyed by missile attack
"Iran is our neighbor and has assisted Kurdistan's people during difficult times," he said.
He added that the embassies need to see that something went wrong in the targeting of his house.
"All the people in Erbil know me and know where my house is," he said. "They know that this is the place where my family lives. It's just a family house."
He added that if anyone visits the house, they would understand that it has the "archives, memories and objects belonging to a family of this city" and that the reports claiming it's not a family house are inaccurate.