Danish Refugee Council’s premises attacked in Basra
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Danish Refugee Council (DRC)’s premises in Basra came under “armed attack” on early Saturday, resulting in no casualties, according to a statement the humanitarian organization shared with Kurdistan 24.
Lilu Thapa, the DRC’s Executive Director for the Middle East, confirmed that the DRC in Basra came under an armed attack in the early hours of Saturday and noted that “Our staff on the premises at the time were physically unharmed, but there has been damage to the property with structures set on fire. We deplore this attack — aid workers should never be a target of violence.”
“[The] DRC has been working in Iraq for 20 years, providing support to communities affected by conflict and displacement, including demining operations across Basra,” Thapa added.
She also highlighted that DRC is an independent and impartial international organization that focuses on responding to humanitarian needs, and it does not discriminate on the basis of gender, ethnicity, or religion.
“The DRC promotes values of inclusion and respect and in no way supports those who seek to incite hatred or violence by discriminating against others. That is not the society that we stand up for,” the director concluded.
On Friday, reports surfaced that an ultranationalist, rightwing organization named Danske Patrioter burned a copy of the Quran in front of the Iraqi Embassy in Copenhagen. In response, hundreds of followers of political leader Moqtada al-Sadr on early Saturday attempted to storm Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses foreign embassies and the Iraqi government's headquarters.
Two days earlier, angry protesters stormed the Swedish Embassy in Baghdad over the planned burning of an Islamic holy book. The situation later unfolded into a complete separation of diplomatic ties between the two countries after the ensuing planned desecration occurred.
Read More: Iraqi Foreign Ministry condemns desecration of Holy Quran in Denmark