ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US-led coalition shot down a drone over the Soran administration in northeastern Erbil late Wednesday night, local officials told Rudaw, as attacks continue on the Kurdistan Region despite the extension of the fragile US-Iran ceasefire.
Halgurd Sheikh Najib, head of the Soran administration, reported that “between 10:30 pm and 11:00 pm [local time] on Wednesday evening, drones were seen in the sky over Soran,” adding that “a drone was shot down and neutralized near the eastern Barziwa area by fighter jets of the [US-led Global] Coalition [to Defeat the Islamic State].”
The US and Israel launched a preemptive air campaign against Iran on February 28, targeting more than 17,000 sites across the country over six weeks of hostilities before the warring sides agreed to a Pakistan-mediated ceasefire on April 8. The truce halted fighting for two weeks and paved the way for talks.
Despite the extension of the ceasefire on Tuesday, the Kurdistan Region has continued to face drone and missile threats. Since the onset of the war in late February, the Region has been targeted by 732 such attacks, resulting in 21 deaths and 99 injuries.
The attacks on the Kurdistan Region have been claimed by the Iranian military, namely the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Iraqi armed groups aligned with the Tehran-led ‘Axis of Resistance,’ which say they are targeting US interests and Iranian Kurdish opposition groups based in the Region.