Iraqi officials have launched an investigation following a Saturday morning drone strike that targeted the residence of Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, according to security officials familiar with the incident.
Defense systems successfully intercepted a second unmanned aircraft near a Peshmerga military installation in Duhok, the same sources reported.
These attacks occur during a period of increased violence affecting both Iranian-supported militia groups and Kurdish military units, as broader Middle Eastern conflicts involving the United States and Israel extend into Iraqi territory, creating challenges for multiple armed factions and complicating Baghdad’s containment efforts.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani denounced the assault on President Barzani’s residence and contacted him directly by telephone, according to an official statement from the prime minister’s office.
Al-Sudani has directed the formation of a combined federal and Kurdistan Region security and technical investigation team to examine these incidents and determine who carried them out, the announcement continued.
Military operations have repeatedly struck locations associated with the Popular Mobilization Forces, Iraq’s coordinating organization for Iranian-backed Shiite militia groups, as well as Kurdish Peshmerga military units throughout the Kurdistan Region since the beginning of U.S.-Israeli military actions against Iran.
Iraqi military officials have blamed the United States and Israel for conducting certain aerial bombardments against the PMF.
Armed organizations supported by Tehran have simultaneously conducted their own operations against American military installations in Iraq and targeted the U.S. embassy facility.
