Arbat airport drone entered airspace from Turkey: Iraq military spox

Azhi Rasul

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s top military spokesperson on Monday said the drone that struck Sulaimani’s Arbat airport and killed three people came from Turkey, calling the attack a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and territorial integrity.  

“On Monday, September 18, at 17:00 a drone entered Iraqi airspace through the border with Turkey and bombed Arbat airport in Sulaimani province,” Yehia Rasool, military spokesperson for the Iraqi prime minister said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The Sulaimani-based counter-terrorism directorate on Monday announced that three of its members were killed in an unidentified drone strike that targeted Arbat airport, 27 kilometers southeast of Sulaimani. Three other members were wounded in the attack according to a statement from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)-affiliated force.

Rasool said that the attack constitutes “a violation of Iraq’s security, security and territorial integrity” and also “a threat to the peace and security of the region”, adding that the repeated Turkish strikes “undermines Iraq’s efforts” to build a balanced political, economic and security relation with its neighbors.”

The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) condemned the attack on the airport on Tuesday, stating that “Attacks repeatedly violating Iraqi sovereignty must stop. Security concerns must be addressed through dialogue and diplomacy - not strikes,” it said.

PUK leader Bafel Talabani labeled the attack as a “terrorist attack” and “a part of the conspiracy aimed at disturbing the peace and stability of the Kurdistan Region," while the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani called on the Iraqi federal government to scale up efforts to prevent the repetition of such “violations”.

Sulaimani Governor Haval Abubakir condemned the attack on the airport, labeling it a violation, and called on the countries of the region to respect Iraq and the Kurdistan Region’s sovereignty.

Turkey has recently intensified its targeting of areas in Sulaimani province on the grounds of attacking the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters.

In April a drone strike targeted a convoy carrying US military personnel, including Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) general commander Mazloum Abdi, near Sulaimani International Airport. Abdi blamed Turkey for being behind the attack.

Turkey considers the SDF and its Kurdish backbone the People's Protection Units (YPG) as the Syrian offshoot of the PKK, which is designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara. 

Ankara has not commented on Monday’s attack. 

A flight ban on Sulaimani International Airport by Turkey has been in place since April 3. The Turkish foreign ministry has said that the ban, which is to remain in effect until January, is related to the alleged “intensification” of PKK activity in Sulaimani.