Twelve ‘ballistic missiles’ fired from outside Iraq at Erbil

Twelve “ballistic missiles” drawn “outside the borders of Iraq, and more precisely of the East”, targeted Sunday, March 13 the American consulate in Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan of Iraq, without causing any casualties, affirmed the Kurdish security forces. Iraq shares its long eastern border with Iran, which plays an essential political and economic role with its Iraqi neighbour.

But in Iraq, it is generally the firing of rockets or booby-trapped drones, never claimed and on a smaller scale, which target American interests and the troops of the international anti-jihadist coalition. Washington accuses pro-Iran Iraqi factions, which are demanding the departure of American soldiers.

Before dawn on Sunday, an AFP correspondent in Erbil, northern Iraq, heard three explosions. The attack was carried out with “twelve ballistic missiles fired against a district of Erbil and aimed at the American consulate”according to a statement from the Kurdistan Counter-Terrorism Unit. “There are no human losses, only material damage”, the statement added. For his part, a spokesman for the US State Department assured that there was no “no damage or casualties at any U.S. government facility.”

The local television channel Kurdistan24, whose studios are not far from the new premises of the American consulate, published on its social networks images of its damaged offices, with collapsed sections of the false ceiling and broken glass. “We condemn this terrorist attack launched against several sectors of Erbil, we call on the inhabitants to remain calm”Kurdistan Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said in a statement.