SULAIMANI (ESTA) — U.N. envoy to Iraq said on Wednesday the attacks in Iraq including the drone attack on the Kurdistan Region are an “affront to the rule of law”, pushing Iraq towards an unknown direction.
A bomb-laden drone targeted Erbil airport late on Tuesday, according to the Region’s counter-terrorism directorate, but caused no casualties or damages.
Coalition spokesman Col. Wayne Marotto said an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) impacted in the vicinity of Erbil air base, which houses U.S. and Coalition troops.
“These constant attacks, last night again in Erbil, are an affront to the rule of law,” U.N. Special Representative in Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said in a tweet.
“Such acts are pushing the country towards the unknown, with the Iraqi people potentially paying a high price,” she added.
“The legitimacy of the State must not be threatened by callous armed actors.”
No groups have claimed responsibility for the attacks, but armed groups that some Iraqi officials say are backed by Iran have claimed similar incidents.
U.S. officials blame Iran-backed militias for regular rocket attacks on U.S. facilities in Iraq, including near the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
The attack comes a day after rockets and a drone targeted Ain al-Asad air base, which houses U.S. troops, and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
In April, a drone dropped explosives near the U.S. forces stationed at Erbil airport. That was the first known attack carried out by an unmanned aerial drone against U.S. forces in Erbil, amid a steady stream of rocket attacks on bases hosting U.S. forces and the embassy in Baghdad that Washington blames on Iran-backed militias.
