ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Saturday “strongly” condemned recent drone attacks on the Kurdistan Region that have killed five people, despite “a ceasefire and ongoing peace talks” between the United States and Iran.
“We strongly condemn the ongoing drone attacks against the Kurdistan Region over the last several days. Although we have not been part of the conflict, we continue to come under attack,” Prime Minister Barzani wrote on X.
Since a ceasefire took effect last week, ending six weeks of conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran, the Kurdistan Region has been targeted by drone attacks. These strikes have primarily hit camps and bases housing Iranian Kurdish opposition groups and their families, leaving five people dead.
“Despite the ceasefire and ongoing peace talks, these attacks have killed at least five people and injured many more, in an effort to undermine the ceasefire and further harm our region,” Barzani said.
The Kurdish premier reiterated his call on the Iraqi government to “take practical measures to end these attacks,” and urged international partners “to provide the equipment necessary to protect Kurdistan from these ongoing threats, including our civilian and energy infrastructure.”
During the US-Israeli war on Iran that began on February 28, Tehran and its allied Iraqi armed groups targeted US interests in the region, as well as positions of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups and their dependents within the Kurdistan Region.
The post-ceasefire strikes come after the Iranian consulate in Erbil issued a statement following the ceasefire, calling on Baghdad and Erbil to expel these groups for allegedly collaborating with Iran’s enemies.
The Kurdistan Region hosts several Iranian Kurdish opposition parties, which Tehran labels as “terrorist” or “separatist” groups, and has repeatedly targeted them with cross-border drone, missile, and artillery strikes.
Tehran’s concerns intensified following the 2022 Women, Life, Freedom movement, which began as a call for women’s rights and later evolved into nationwide anti-government protests. Hundreds were killed and thousands arrested during the unrest.
Iran has accused these groups of fueling and expanding the protests, leading to a security agreement with the Iraqi government in September 2023 aimed at disarming and relocating them. Although they have been moved away from border areas and placed in six camps across the Kurdistan Region, Iran has continued to strike their positions, describing the attacks as preemptive.