Condemnation of the attack on Hewler Airport

The Counter-Terrorism Service in Başûr Kurdistan announced that it had targeted Hewler Airport with several missiles on Monday evening, while a statement by the Ministry of Interior in Başûr Kurdistan stated that a number of missiles were fired at Hewler and its environs around 9:30 pm local time, wounding some people, without revealing further details.

For his part, a spokesman for the International Coalition Forces announced that a foreign civilian contractor was killed and 5 civilians and an American soldier were wounded in the missile attack.

Security officials in Başûr said: Hewler / Erbil airport was closed, and flights were suspended for peace reasons, and that one of the shells landed near a residential area and wounded three people.

In addition, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said: The United States is "angry" because of the missile attack. He added in a statement: "I contacted the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan region, Masrour Barzani, to discuss the incident and pledge our support to all efforts to investigate it and hold those responsible accountable."

For her part, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Iraq, Jeanine Hennes, condemned the missile attack on the airport, and called for the need for restraint and close cooperation between Baghdad and Holler to bring the perpetrators to justice, and to protect Iraq from external rivalries.

In his turn, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kazemi, directed the formation of a joint investigation committee with the competent authorities in Başûr Kurdistan, in order to find out who was behind the accident that a number of missiles fell on Hewler International Airport.

For his part, the British ambassador to Iraq, Stephen Hickey, strongly condemned the attack, calling for those responsible to be held accountable, and said: "We will support the President of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Masrour Barzani and the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kazemi, in the investigation of the attack."

A group calling itself the "Awliya al-Dam Brigades" claimed responsibility for the attack on al-Qaeda, saying: It targeted the "American occupation" in Iraq, and it did not provide any evidence for its claim.

At dawn on Tuesday, the "Arab" network reported that the security of Başûr Kurdistan found the trucks that were used in launching the rockets, noting that 4 Katyusha rockets were found that did not go towards Hewler.

The officials said: The initial investigations later showed that the remnants of the projectiles that landed in some areas were from mortar missiles.

On September 30, 2020, six Katyusha rockets landed near Hewler airport, an attack that the Counter-Terrorism Service in Başûr Kurdistan blamed on pro-Iranian groups.

T/S
ANHA