ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Media affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) early Wednesday claimed responsibility for a large fire on Goizha mountain in its attacks against Kurdish dissident groups in the Kurdistan Region's Sulaimani province, while local officials say they are investigating the matter.
“Fire breaks out at the headquarters... in northern Sulaimani following Iranian attacks,” Tasnim News Agency reported on its Telegram channel, in reference to Kurdish opposition groups that it claims are stationed there.
Fueled by arid conditions and dry brush, the blaze continues to spread rapidly and firefighters have been dispatched to the site.
Shaho Osman, the deputy governor of Sulaimani, told Rudaw that they have contained the fire to an extent but have yet to determine its source.
“We are conducting an investigation into the cause of the fire and aim to determine what happened,” he said, adding that “fully controlling the fire takes time, and once it is extinguished, a team will monitor the site to prevent reignition.”
The deputy governor added that officials will assess the full scope of the damage.
The attack came hours after five missiles struck a base belonging to the Kurdistan Freedom Party, an Iranian opposition group near Erbil. Unidentified drones were also reportedly intercepted by US-deployed air defenses in the area.
Earlier on Friday, Iranian forces targeted the Komala Toilers of Iranian Kurdistan near Sulaimani with six missiles, killing 10 people, including one fighter who succumbed to his wounds on Tuesday.
Iran has stepped up strikes in the Kurdistan Region as its broader conflict with the US reignites, unraveling a preliminary mid-June deal that aimed to pause hostilities and revive diplomacy.
At least 60 drones and missiles have hit the region in the first three weeks of July, bringing the total number of projectiles launched since the conflict intensified in late February to more than 925, according to Rudaw’s tracking.
The strikes have resulted in at least 31 fatalities and 148 injuries.
Kurdish officials have repeatedly condemned the strikes, reaffirming their neutrality in the ongoing conflict between Washington and Tehran.
On Sunday, Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani called for “an immediate end to the ongoing, unjustified attacks on the Kurdistan Region, as war and violence serve no one's interest.”
[Updated at 1:37]
.jpeg&w=3840&q=75)
