At least two drones have reached this Monday the office of the Prime Minister of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, Masrour Barzani, in Erbil, in an action launched from Iranian territory that, for now, has not caused any casualties or injuries.
The regional government has specified in a statement that the explosions occurred in the facilities of the Prime Minister's office and at the headquarters of the Regional Defense Agency of Kurdistan.
According to Kurdish authorities, the devices were two unmanned aerial vehicles model Hadid-110, deliberately directed against this complex. "We strongly condemn these attacks and violations; they are unacceptable and those responsible are fully accountable for the consequences," they declared, according to the Rudaw network.
This type of drone is capable of flying at a speed of up to nine kilometers per hour and carrying 300 kilograms of ammunition, making them a suitable weapon for striking sensitive infrastructures and strategic targets.
Barzani himself has condemned the attack, which he described as "reckless," and has warned that "they constitute a dangerous escalation and a direct threat to the security and stability of the region." "They will not deter us from continuing to fulfill our duties and protecting our citizens," he emphasized on his social media.
The President of Iraqi Kurdistan, Nechirvan Barzani, has also expressed his rejection and has demanded that the central government in Baghdad "fulfill its constitutional responsibility and its commitment to safeguard the security and stability of the country."
In the same vein, he has reminded that "The protection of the sovereignty, security, and stability of Iraq, including the Kurdistan region, is a shared responsibility, and everyone must work to reduce and eliminate tensions," as he has published on social media.
The Iraqi Prime Minister, Ali al Zaidi, has reported the launch of an "investigation commission" to identify the "sources" and "points" of launch of the drones against Barzani's facilities.
He has announced in a statement that the conclusions of this team will be made public "as soon as possible" with the aim of clarifying the circumstances of the attack and determining who are its responsible parties.
Reactions from Iran, the United States, and the UN
The Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, has also spoken about what happened, emphasizing that "nothing justifies" an operation that he has described as "reckless."
In the same message, he warned the "Kurdish friends" to remain "alert to false flag maneuvers to sow discord among neighbors." "We protect our Kurdish friends from Saddam (Hussein) and from the Islamic State, and we thank them for the security they have provided us at our border," he added.
For his part, the U.S. special envoy for Syria and Iraq, Tom Barrack, has defined the attack as "unacceptable" when addressing a "friend and esteemed Kurdish partner" of Washington. The also U.S. ambassador to Turkey has considered the incident as "a direct threat to regional stability" and has assured that the Trump Administration will not "condone or tolerate these hostilities."
"We fully support the leadership of Prime Minister Ali al Zaidi to restore Iraq's full sovereignty and ensure that all weapons and security forces remain under the authority of the Iraqi state," Barrack added.
Meanwhile, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, has described the use of these drones, whose authorship has not yet been claimed, as a "violation" of Iraqi sovereignty.
"It is evident that this is a violation of Iraq's sovereignty. We condemn the attack against the offices of the Prime Minister of Kurdistan," his spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, indicated at a press conference.