Iraq: 12 missiles in Erbil against the US consulate, no injuries

Twelve ballistic missiles “targeted Erbil and the American consulate” in the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. Kurdish security forces confirmed this in a press release, assuring them that these missiles were launched “outside the borders of Iraq, more precisely from the east”. The attack was carried out with “12 ballistic missiles launched against the Erbil district and which targeted the American consulate” according to the press release of the Kurdistan counter-terrorism unit. “The missiles were launched outside the borders of Iraq and Kurdistan, (coming) more precisely from the east” of the country. “There are no human losses, only material damage,” adds the statement, without mentioning possible damage to the American consulate. In Iraq, missile attacks or explosive drones, never claimed, regularly target American interests and troops of the international anti-jihadist coalition. Washington generally accuses the pro-Iranian Iraqi factions of carrying out such attacks. In January 2020, Iran launched missiles at bases housing US troops in Iraq, in retaliation for Washington’s assassination of General Qassem Soleimani a few days earlier. Turkey condemned the missile attack that struck the US consulate in Erbil in northern Iraq overnight. “Acts of this type that aim to destroy peace and stability in Iraq are unacceptable” reads a statement from the Ankara Foreign Ministry which states that “Turkey will continue to stand on Iraq’s side in its fight against the terrorism”.