One dead, five injured in Erbil airport rocket attack

Defence Redefined

Published on 16/02/2021 at 10:57

One civilian contractor was killed and five others, including a US soldier, were injured when rockets were fired Monday night at an airport base in Kurdistan, in the northern part of the autonomous region, announced the US-led international military coalition.

At least three rockets hit the airport in Erbil, one of which hit a military base hosting international coalition troops, the military coalition said. This is the first time in nearly two months that military or diplomatic positions have been targeted in Iraq.

On Monday, US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, expressed Washington’s “outrage” over the rocket attack on a base in Erbil, in the province of Iraqi Kurdistan, in which a civilian contractor of the US Department of Defence was killed, and an American soldier and Iraqi civilians were injured.

According to a press release issued by his services, Mr. Blinken “contacted the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Masrour Barzani,” in order to “discuss the incident” and offer “our support to all efforts to investigate and hold those responsible accountable.”

The responsibility was claimed by a virtually unknown organization, which calls itself Awliya al-Dam, or “Guardians of Blood”, in Arabic.

Also read: NATO mission extended in Afghanistan