Missile strikes kill six Peshmerga fighters near Erbil’s Khalifan

ERBIL — Missile strikes on a Peshmerga base in the Sepilk area near Khalifan district killed six fighters, wounded more than 22 others and left two missing early Tuesday, local officials told 964media.

The strikes hit bases belonging to Unit 7 under Peshmerga Area Command 1 in the Soran independent administration. Five of the dead were from the Barzan area and one from Soran. The wounded were transferred to hospitals in Soran and Khalifan, with some later moved to Erbil for treatment.

The Area Command said two separate strikes were carried out after midnight. The first, at 1:50 a.m., involved five missiles with no casualties recorded.

A second strike at 2:50 a.m. targeted the unit’s base “in a specific manner on the border of Kalakin village” with one missile, causing the casualties.

The command said its forces remain on full alert and that an investigation is ongoing to determine the source of the attacks.

The strike is among the deadliest single attacks on Peshmerga forces since the regional war began Feb. 28. It follows a drone strike Sunday on a Peshmerga position in Chamchamal and earlier drone attacks in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah that wounded three fighters last week.

Iran’s IRGC and allied Iraqi militias have carried out more than 300 attacks on the Kurdistan Region since the war began, killing eight people and wounding 51, according to Community Peacemaker Teams – Iraqi Kurdistan — a toll that does not yet reflect Tuesday’s casualties.