SULAIMANI (ESTA) — A number of rockets fired toward the Kurdistan Region’s capital, Erbil, on Monday night, wounding three people.
The Region’s Ministry of interior said in a statement that a number of rockets fired at Erbil and areas around the city at 09:30 p.m. on Monday.
“The security services have launched investigations into the rocket attack,” the ministry added, calling on residents in Erbil to stay at their home until further notice.
The Region’s ministry of health said at least three people had been wounded in the attack, one of them is a security guard of one of the consulates in Waziran neighborhood in Erbil.
Security sources said one of the rockets landed near China’s consulate in the Waziran neighborhood.
The health ministry added that another person who is from the Kurdish areas in northeastern Syria was also wounded at the livestock store in Erbil. The other wounded is also a civilian whose condition “is unstable”.
U.S.-led Coalition Forces spokesman Colonel Wayne Marotto said in a tweet that initial reports showed that “Indirect Fire landed on Coalition Forces in Erbil tonight”.
“There was 1 civilian contractor killed, 5 civilian contractors injured and 1 US service member injured. More information to follow,” he added.
Around 10 rockets said to have been fired toward Erbil city, three of which landed near Erbil international airport.
Kurdistan Region’s Counter-terrorism service said two rockets landed inside Erbil international airport.
Footage circulated on social media showed a rocket falling near a residential area.
Security officials said the Erbil airport was shut down and flights were halted for safety issues.
Meanwhile, Nineveh governor Najm al-Jabouri said the rockets were not fired from areas in the province.
“No rockets have been fired toward Kurdistan from Nineveh province,” he told Shafaaq News.
Prime Minister Masrour Barzani condemned “in the strongest terms” the rocket attack, urging people to remain calm.
“I’ve instructed security services to start a full investigation and spoke with PM @MAKadhimi on ways to cooperate and identify the outlaws behind this terror attack,” Barzani said in a tweet.
Iraqi President Barham Salih said in a tweet that the attack on Erbil was a “dangerous escalation and an attempt to plunge the country into chaos.”
A group calling itself “Avengers of Blood”, or Saraya Awliya al-Dam, claimed responsibility for the rocket attack on Erbil in a statement on social media, saying it targeted “American occupation” and that it was “the beginning of the game”.
On Sept. 30, six Katyusha rockets fell near Erbil airport, an attack which the Kurdistan’s counterterrorism service blamed on Iran-backed Iraqi Shia militia groups.
*This story was updated at 01:39 a.m. (EBL time) on Tuesday
