Drone strike wounds 8 Iranian Kurdish rebels in Iraq: exiled group

ERBIL, Iraq: A drone strike in Iraq’s Kurdistan region wounded eight Iranian Kurdish rebels on Sunday, an exiled opposition group said, blaming the attack on Iran.

During the Middle East war, the northern Kurdistan region, which hosts US troops and foreign oil companies as well as exiled Iranian Kurdish rebels, has been a target for attacks carried out by Iran and pro-Iran Iraqi armed groups.

The renewed escalation in Kurdistan follows the resumption of hostilities between the United States and Iran.

Adib Khaldian from the exiled Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) told AFP “at 02:00 am (2300 GMT Saturday), Iranian forces attacked with a drone” a camp belonging to the party near Erbil.

“Eight of our members were wounded,” Khaldian said, blaming the attack on Iran.

On Friday, drone and rocket attacks also blamed on Iran killed nine members of the Komala Party, another Iranian Kurdish opposition group.

The latest attacks are the biggest escalation against these groups, which Iran has continued to strike even after a ceasefire was announced in April.

In Erbil, the capital of autonomous Kurdistan, AFP journalists reported hearing loud blasts before dawn after air defences were activated in the city.

In recent days, the US-led anti-jihadist coalition’s air defences shot down several explosive-laden drones over the city, which is home to a major US consulate complex and houses military advisers attached to the coalition at its airport.

Kurdistan’s prime minister blamed Iran and urged it to stop “unjustified attacks” on the region.

During the Middle East war, pro-Iran armed groups, operating under the umbrella of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, targeted US facilities in Iraq more than 600 times in support of Tehran.

No group has claimed responsibility for the recent attacks.