Kurdistan
From left: A suspected drone being shot down in Erbil's Soran administration. A large missile which fell down in Soran's Korek village on April 14, 2024. Photos: Submitted
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Several Iranian drones and missiles were spotted in the skies of the Kurdistan Region on early Sunday with some collapsing or being shot down, hours after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched a massive attack into Israel.
The IRGC announced late on Saturday that it launched dozens of drones and missiles towards Israeli territory in response to the attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus, which killed at least seven, including two IRGC general.
Loud booms and drone sightings were reported hours later in Erbil’s Soran, Harir, Bradost, Sulaimani’s Ranya, Duhok’s Shiladze, Akre, and Shiekhan, as well as several other areas across the Kurdistan Region.
“We were awoken by the loud sound. A large fire rose from it [the missile] when it collapsed… but it did not explode,” a resident of Soran’s Korek village told Rudaw’s Mustafa Goran.
Sirens were also sounded off at the United States Consulate General in Erbil’s Ainkawa district, where residents reported hearing several loud bangs.
There has been no official comments from Kurdistan Region authorities on the matter as of the time of this writing.
Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon announced they were temporarily closing their airspace for all incoming, outgoing, and transitioning aircraft, citing heightening regional tensions. The Kurdistan Region also temporarily suspended all flights from Erbil and Sulaimani airports.
In a statement early Sunday, the IRGC threatened regional neighbors that allow their territories be used for an attack on Iran.
“Any threat by the terrorist state of America and the Zionist regime from any country will be followed by a reciprocal and proportional response from the Islamic Republic of Iran to the source of the threat,” read the IRGC statement.
When Iran has sought to retaliate in the past, it has targeted sites in the Kurdistan Region that it claims are linked to Israel’s Mossad spy agency. Most recently, in January, four people were killed in an Iranian missile attack on the Erbil home of a businessman who officials said had no ties to Israel.
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