Rockets crash in Erbil’s Soran administration

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Several rockets crashed in Erbil’s Soran administration, local officials told Rudaw on Monday evening, without resulting in any casualties.

At least four Katyusha rockets crashed in Khalifan’s Tarawa village, with the source and target of the rockets yet to be determined, Halgurd Sheikh Najib, the head of Soran administration told Rudaw, adding that no material or immaterial damages have been inflicted during the incident.

Maghdid Ahmed, Soran’s mayor, told Rudaw that they have begun investigations into the incident.

The officials confirmed to Rudaw that there are currently no military bases near the area where the rockets landed.

Harir airbase, housing US forces, is approximately 30 kilometers away from the town of Khalifan.

Rudaw’s ground reporter stated hours after the incident that the sound of gunfire was being heard in Tarawa.

Later in the evening, the Kurdistan Region’s counter-terrorism directorate claimed that a drone targeted suspected members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Erbil’s Balisan Valley, around the same time of the reported rocket incident in Soran.

The PKK is an armed group struggling for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey and designated a terrorist organization by Ankara.

Ankara has received widespread criticism from Baghdad, Erbil, and the international community for violating Iraqi sovereignty. It recently launched an operation against the armed group in Duhok province, dubbed Claw-Lock, which has been condemned by Iraqi officials, who labeled it as a “hostile” and “provocative” violation of the country’s sovereignty.