ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - At least nine members of the Kurdish dissident group Komala Toilers of Kurdistan were killed and several others wounded in an attack involving six missiles on the group's base in Kurdistan Region's eastern Sulaimani province on Friday, a senior commander from the group told Rudaw, anticipating that the death toll would rise.
“Our main headquarters in Zirgwez was struck by six missiles,” the commander said, adding that preliminary figures show that at least eight people have been killed and a number of others injured.”
He added however that the number of casualties “is expected to rise as the fire is still burning [through the base] and the exact casualty figures are not yet clear."
Shortly after these remarks, the death toll rose to nine.
Meanwhile, Abdullah Azarbar, a member of Komala's politburo, blamed Tehran for the attack, telling Rudaw, "We were bombarded by Iran with six powerful and large missiles."
Zirgwez is a town located in the southern part of Sulaimani and known for hosting camps belonging to Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups.
Later in the day, the Kurdistan Region Security Agency detailed that “a total of seven missiles” were fired - four at Zirgwez, one at Qasdri and two near Grdi Kopani villages in Sulaimani.
“A detailed investigation by our teams is ongoing to determine the human and material damages caused by the attacks,” the Agency added.
Information obtained by Rudaw also indicated that the targeted base in Zirgwez was housing at least 20 members who had recently joined the group.
Earlier on Friday, several "powerful blasts" were heard in the area, Rudaw's Fazel Hawrami reported, likening the possibility of the area being targeted.
As of the time of this report, efforts to extinguish the fire caused by the attack were still ongoing.
In addition to the attack in Sulaimani, several drones were intercepted over the Kurdistan Region's capital, Erbil, in the early hours of Friday.
The Erbil-based Counter-Terrorism Directorate confirmed that "between 4:19 and 5:25 am [local time], [US-led] Coalition forces intercepted and shot down eight bomb-laden drones in the skies over Erbil," adding that the incidents left no casualties."
Last updated at 2:00 pm.
