Kurdistan Region president condemns Iranian missile strike on Peshmerga

ERBIL — Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani condemned Tuesday’s Iranian missile attack on Peshmerga headquarters near Soran as “a direct hostile aggression against the sovereignty of the country” with “no justification,” calling on Baghdad and the international community to act.

“We strongly condemn the Iranian missile attack that targeted the headquarters of the Peshmerga forces in Soran this morning, claiming the lives of a number of heroic Peshmergas and leaving others wounded,” Barzani said. He stressed that the Kurdistan Region “has always been a factor of peace and stability” and poses “no threat to the security of neighboring countries,” making the attack “completely contrary to the principles of good neighborliness.”

He called on the Iraqi federal government and international community “to intensify their efforts to prevent the repetition of these violations and protect the sovereignty of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.”

Six ballistic missiles struck Peshmerga positions near Soran in two separate attacks early Tuesday, killing six fighters and wounding about 30 others, the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs said. Two fighters remain missing. The ministry described the strikes as “a treacherous and inhumane act” and warned the Kurdistan Region has the right to respond. Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani earlier called the attack “hostile and traitorous” and said the KRG “will take all measures to counter this hostility.”

The strike follows a drone attack Sunday on a Peshmerga position in Chamchamal and earlier drone strikes in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah last week. More than 300 attacks have been carried out across the Kurdistan Region since the war began Feb. 28, according to Community Peacemaker Teams – Iraqi Kurdistan.