The 2022 Erbil missile attacks occurred on 13 March 2022 when multiple ballistic missile were launched by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from East Azerbaijan province, Iran, against the city of

Erbil Erbil, also called Hawler (, ar, أربيل, Arbīl; syr, ܐܲܪܒܹܝܠ, Arbel), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It lies in the Erbil Governorate. It has an estimated population of around 1,600,000. Hu ...

in Kurdistan Region, Iraq. Fateh-110 ballistic missiles were reportedly launched from Iran. The IRGC said that the target was Israel's "strategic center" in Erbil. Kurdish authorities reported that among the places hit by the missiles were the city's American consulate and a residential neighbourhood. One civilian was injured by the attack. According to one US official, the targets encompassed buildings where a

Mossad Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...

cell was suspected of operating, according to a conversation with an Iraqi counterpart. The next day, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility for the attack.

Background

A few days before, IRGC released a statement promising Israel will pay for the killings of Ehsan Karbalaipour and Morteza Saeidnejad, two IRGC colonels killed in an Israeli

airstrike An airstrike, air strike or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighters, heavy bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters and drones. The offic ...

in the outskirts of

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

on 7 March. Major General Hossein Salami, IRGC Commander-in-Chief and General Amir Ali Hajizadeh attended their funerals.

The attack

The ballistic missiles struck the target at 1:20 a.m., the same time of the assassination of Major General Qasem Soleimani by a United States drone strike in 2020.

Reactions

On Sunday, Iraq summoned the

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

of Iran to protest the missile attack, denouncing a "flagrant violation of (Iraqi) sovereignty," Iraq protested over the missile strikes that had caused "material losses" and "damage to civilian installations and houses." Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr responded to the attack by tweeting "The territory of Iraq from south to north, and east to west should not be part of conflicts and that Iraq's "involvement" in conflicts was a dangerous precedent, while calling on the competent authorities to immediately send a protest letter to the United Nations and additionally to summon the Iranian ambassador. The airstrikes were also denounced by

Prime Minister of Iraq The prime minister of Iraq is the head of government of Iraq. On 27 October 2022, Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani became the incumbent prime minister. History The prime minister was originally an appointed office, subsidiary to the head of state, a ...

Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, the United States Department of State,

President of Iraq The president of Iraq is the head of state of Iraq and "safeguards the commitment to the Constitution and the preservation of Iraq's independence, sovereignty, unity, the security of its territories in accordance with the provisions of the Con ...

Barham Salih and Iraqi Kurdish former president

Masoud Barzani Masoud Barzani ( ku, ,مه‌سعوود بارزانی, translit=Mesûd Barzanî}; born 16 August 1946) is a Kurdish politician who has been leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) since 1979, and was President of the Kurdistan Region o ...

, the latter two of whom described it as a terrorist attack. Qais al-Khazali, leader of Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq which is a radical Iraqi

Shi'a Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...

political party and

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

group praised the airstrike, claiming to have information about the Israeli presence and that what was bombed in Erbil was the headquarters of Mossad. He also stated that even if Mohammed bin Salman decided to bomb an Israeli headquarters in Iraq, " ewould not condemn this". On 21 March, Jafar al-Husseini, the spokesperson for Iraq’s

Kataib Hezbollah Kata'ib Hezbollah ( ar, كتائب حزب الله, lit=Battalions of the Party of God)—or the Hezbollah Battalions—is a radical Shia Islam in Iraq, Iraqi Shiite paramilitary group which is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces backed by ...

movement, warned that activities by the Israeli spy agency Mossad in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region could trigger a conflict between Iraq and its neighbors. Israel's officials declined to comment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erbil rocket attacks, 2022 2022 crimes in Iraq 2022 in international relations 2020s building bombings 2020s in Iraqi Kurdistan March 2022 crimes in Asia March 2022 events in Iraq Attacks on buildings and structures in 2022 Building bombings in Iraq 2022 rocket attacks Military operations involving Iran Iran–Israel proxy conflict Iran–Iraq relations Iran–United States relations Iraq–United States relations Iraq–Israel relations Israel–United States relations

Background

The attack

Reactions

See also

References