Coronavirus saves Kurdish family from Iranian missiles hitting Erbil

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The family of the prominent Iraqi-Kurdish businessman, whose house was targeted by Iranian missile barrage last week, was staying at a nearby residence as his wife had tested positive for coronavirus earlier, the family confirmed to Rudaw on Saturday.

Under the pretext of hitting an Israeli base, Iran fired a dozen ballistic missiles in the Kurdish capital on Sunday. At least four of the missiles hit the house of Baz Karim, turning the home he shared with his wife, his two kids, and his loved ones, into ruins. 

Rudaw on Saturday was able to confirm that Karim and his family were staying at another residence they owned, just kilometers away from where the missiles landed.

The family was staying at the residence for a couple of days as Karim’s wife had tested positive for COVID-19 earlier, Nawin Subhi, the wife and a mother of two told Rudaw.

Subhi’s test came back negative on March 12, but the family had decided to go back to the mansion the following day.

Iran claimed responsibility for last week’s missile attack in Erbil, calling it a “retaliation” for an Israeli strike that killed two members of its forces a week earlier. Tehran said it was targeting Israeli training centers in the city.

The semi-official Tasnim news agency reported an anonymous IRGC source saying “the main target of the IRGC missiles was the Zionist headquarters, which is far from the American military bases.” 

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Kurdish authorities have strongly rejected all claims of the presence of Israeli bases in the city.

"Allegedly under the pretext of hitting an Israeli base near the US Consulate in Erbil, [the attack] targeted civilian locations, and its justification is only to hide the disgracefulness of such offense. We reiterate that the propaganda of the perpetrators of this attack is far from true," read a KRG statement.

Karim, the CEO, and founder of the Iraqi-Kurdish oil company KAR group, also denied links to Mossad.

"This is my family's house, all the photos and our belongings are inside this house, you can see it all our belongings under the wreckage, even our archive since childhood till today," Karim told AP on Friday from his gutted home.

"It was horrible and terrible, especially for the children Ban and Ahmed, it was horrifying," he added.

Walking down the halls of what once was a warm home, Karim, Subhi, and their daughter, Ban recounted the horrific moments when the missiles hit the city in a video published by AP.

"We huddled ... we wore whatever shoes we saw, whatever coat we managed to get. We were at the garden then we see the missiles flying over us when we were in the garden, huddled over us, "Ban told the media outlet.

 

The attack injured two civilians and damaged other houses nearby the area. 

The missiles fell close to the American consulate in Erbil, but the US later said there were “no indications the attack was directed” at them. 

Karim manages many of the most important oil assets controlled by the KRG and is an influential actor in Iraq’s energy sector.

The Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and the Iraqi premier Mustafa al-Kadhimi inspected the site on Monday.