Drones and missiles strike Azadi Camp in Koya for second consecutive day

KOYA — Iran targeted a Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan base in Koya district with seven missiles and several drones in a coordinated attack Friday, the party said, with one Peshmerga lightly wounded.

Azadi Camp has been repeatedly struck since the war between the United States, Israel and Iran began Feb. 28. On Tuesday, three drones and a missile hit the camp and a PDKI weapons storage facility in the same district, with the PDKI describing the strike as “a serious humanitarian and legal breach” and saying the targeting of a medical facility “constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law.”

Iranian Kurdish opposition parties, now organized under the Alliance of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan, have long opposed Tehran’s rule and formed the alliance in anticipation of potential changes in Iran.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday it would be “wonderful” if Kurdish forces launched an offensive against Iran, while CNN reported the CIA is examining a plan that could involve arming those groups.

The Kurdistan Regional Government has vigorously denied involvement in any such plans.

Erbil alone has been targeted by more than 100 missiles and drones since the war began, with blasts hitting opposition bases in Koya and Degala, residential neighborhoods in Ankawa, the Soran area, and infrastructure including the Sarsang oil field in Duhok, which was struck late Thursday and halted production.

The strike came hours after a senior Iranian official issued the most explicit threat yet against the Kurdistan Region, warning that if Iranian Kurdish opposition groups are allowed to continue operating from its territory or cross into Iran, “all facilities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, as the rear base of these groups and the regime, will be widely targeted.”

This article has been updated