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Iraqi Erbil hit by rocket attack

13.03.2022
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According to Jennifer Hauser, Simone McCarthy, Jomana Karadsheh and Muwafaq Mohammed

A dozen ballistic missiles hit Erbil, the capital of the northern Kurdish region, early Sunday morning, local authorities said. According to a statement by the Kurdistan Regional Government, the rockets were fired from "the east outside the borders of Iraq" at the new US consulate building and residential areas. Buildings and houses were damaged in the attack, and one person was "slightly injured," the statement said.
Iran shares a border with Iraq to the east, although no specific country is named in the statement. No claims of responsibility for the attack were reported.
Initial reports circulated on social media claimed the missiles may have hit the US consulate building, but Louk Ghafuri, a spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government, said on Sunday that only the areas around the compound were hit: "None of the missiles hit the new the US consulate that is all under construction in Erbil,” Ghafuri said in a Twitter statement attributed to the Kurdistan Counter-Terrorist Force.
A US State Department spokesman confirmed to CNN that there was no damage at any US government facility and the incident is being investigated by the Iraqi government and the Kurdish regional government. The spokesman added: "We condemn this outrageous attack and display of violence."
The city of Erbil has been a focus of tension between Iran and the United States in the past. In January 2020, a military base hosting US forces in Erbil was one of two Iraqi bases that received rocket fire from Iran in retaliation for the US assassination of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani.

 

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