(DEVELOPING) A number of missiles were fired towards the US consulate in Erbil in northwestern Iraq on Saturday night, according to the Iraqi News Agency (INA). The governor of Erbil, Omed Khoshnaw, stated that multiple missiles fell in the area, saying it was unclear whether the target was the US consulate or the airport in the city.
According to INA, five explosions were heard in the attack. The health minister of Kurdistan stated that there were no injuries or deaths reported in the attack on Saturday night.
US officials later confirmed there were no military victims of the blasts. No further details were immediately available but videos posted online appeared to show several ‘Iranian produced’ ballistic missiles hitting the base in Erbil. Iraqi Shi’ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said on Twitter: ‘Erbil is under fire… as if Kurds were not Iraqis’.
The US base at Erbil International Airport was also hit by a rocket attack in September, on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks in the United States. It is the second drone attack on the airport in as many months. The internal security service for the autonomous region, of which Erbil is the capital, initially said at the time that three rockets had hit near the airport.
A second statement by the Kurdish counter-terrorism force said the attack had been carried out by explosive-laden drones. The airport in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region, has come under attack several times in the past year, including by drones carrying explosives.
