Rockets land in Erbil as US threatens embassy pullout
Iraqi Kurdistan’s counterterrorism service said the rockets were fired by paramilitary groups in Ninevah province in northern Iraq.
The same day Iraq's prime minister pledged to protect foreign missions in the country, paramilitary groups fired rockets in the direction of US troops in Erbil, the counterterrorism service in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq said tonight.
Six rockets were launched from the borders of Sheikh Amir village in Ninevah province by the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), "who were targeting coalition forces at Erbil International Airport,” the counterterrorism service said, adding that the rockets were launched from a modified pickup truck. Two of the six rockets did not explode.
The Kurdish news outlet Rudaw reported the rockets landed in a field near Gazna, near a local headquarters of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI).
The launch site was near Bartella, between the villages of Sheikh Amir and Tarjalah, an area west of Erbil in which the PMU's 30th Brigade has a presence, according to a statement from the Interior Ministry of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). The 30th Brigade formally consists of Ninevah-based PMU forces, but has ties to the Iran-backed Badr Organization. Iran considers the KDPI a terrorist organization.
