The Revolutionary Guards of Iran claimed on Wednesday to have killed nine militants in the Kurdish area of neighbouring northern Iraq by firing missiles and drones at their targets.
After Iranian authorities accused armed Iranian Kurdish dissidents of participating in the turmoil now roiling Iran, particularly in the northwest where the majority of the nation’s roughly 10 million Kurds reside, the strikes were reported.
The strikes in Iraqi Kurdistan’s vicinity of Erbil and Sulaimaniya left 32 people injured and 9 dead, according to a statement from the region’s health minister, Saman Barazanchi.
According to a statement from Barazanchi, “several of the wounded are in serious condition, and the death toll might grow.”
Without going into detail regarding potential deaths, Iraqi Kurdish officials reported that drone attacks on Iranian Kurdish outposts on Wednesday morning in Iraqi Kurdistan hit at least 10 bases close to Sulaimaniya.
Several of their offices were also hit, a senior member of the opposition Komala party, which is made up of exiled Iranian Kurds, said Reuters.
According to Tariq Haidari, mayor of the Iraqi Kurdish city of Koye, 12 people were injured in addition to the two fatalities, one of which was a pregnant lady. According to him, some of the injured were sent in serious condition to a hospital in Erbil.
After the attacks, Iran’s top military and security organisation, the Revolutionary Guards, declared that they will keep going after what they referred to as terrorists in the area.
The Guards issued a statement that was read on state television that said, “This operation will continue with our full determination until the threat is effectively repelled, terrorist group bases are dismantled, and the authorities of the Kurdish region assume their obligations and responsibilities.”
