![Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani [3rd from right] speaks to reporters in Erbil on November 7, 2023. Photo: Rudaw](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.rudaw.net%2Fs3%2Frudaw.net%2FContentFiles%2F764586Image1.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
A pro-Iran group, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, claims it has targeted US troops in Iraq and Syria dozens of times since last month. The Pentagon has confirmed 38 attacks since October 17. The militia group has attributed its attacks to Washington’s support for Israel in the fight against the Palestinian Hamas Movement’s military wing.
“This is an extremely dangerous development for Iraq and the Kurdistan Region,” President Barzani told reporters in Erbil province when asked about the recent attacks on US troops in Iraq and the Region.
“Kurdistan Regional Government calls on Iraq’s prime minister [Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani], as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, to prevent outlaw forces from creating issues for Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. We have this expectation from Iraq’s prime minister,” he added.
He warned that Iraq should not be involved in the regional tensions.
Around 2,500 American troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria are leading an international coalition through Operation Inherent Resolve that has assisted Kurdish, Iraqi, and local Syrian forces in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS), which once held swathes of land in Iraq and Syria but was declared devoid of territorial control in 2017 and 2019 respectively.
On Sunday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Sudani to pursue the attackers of US bases and troops in Iraq.
The Kurdish counterterrorism forces said three explosive-laden drones struck a military base housing coalition troops near Erbil International Airport on Tuesday morning.
Following a meeting with the French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday, President Barzani said that “everything should be done” to prevent Iraq from being dragged into the regional issues.
Last week, Barzani and the US ambassador to Iraq discussed the security of coalition troops in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.
