ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A pro-Iran armed group in Iraq said Sunday it carried out a drone attack targeting US military sites in Erbil, as Iran vowed to retaliate for the killing of its supreme leader.
The pro-Iran Saraya Awliya al-Dam (Guardians of Blood Brigades) group said in a statement dated Sunday that its “mujahideen” conducted an operation “with a squadron of drones” against “American bases in Erbil.”
Early Sunday, a large plume of smoke rose over Erbil following the strike. Casualties and damage were not immediately clear.
The statement said the attack was “in fulfillment of our religious duty and in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran against the Zionist-American aggression” and “defense of Iraq's sovereignty.”
The claim came as pro-Iran armed groups vowed retaliation following US and Israeli strikes on Iran on Saturday. Other missiles and drones were intercepted by US-led coalition forces over the city on the same day.
Also on Saturday, the pro-Iran group Kataib Hezbollah said it would “soon begin targeting” American bases after a Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) base it uses in Iraq’s central Babil province was struck several times the same day. On Thursday, the group warned the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) against cooperating with what it described as “hostile foreign forces.”
“This will impose additional burdens upon it that may threaten its security and future,” the group said, calling on its fighters to “prepare to wage a war of attrition that may be long-term, exceeding the estimates of the US administration.”
Iran began its response less than three hours after the start of the US and Israeli strikes on Saturday, targeting sites in Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the Kurdistan Region, according to Iranian state media.
The strikes resulted in the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iranian state media confirmed Sunday, along with IRGC Commander Mohammad Pakpour and the head of Iran’s Defense Council, Ali Shamkhani.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, a member of the Guardian Council, are set to lead the country during the transition period following Khamenei’s death, state media reported.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told his Iraqi counterpart on Saturday that Tehran’s response to the US and Israeli strikes would target US military bases in the region and would be “limited to military sites,” according to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.