Erbil attack shows coalition forces still needed: PM Barzani

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Tuesday said that Iran’s deadly missile attack on Erbil the previous night is an indication that Iraq and the Region are still very prone to terrorist attacks and are therefore still in need of the assistance of the United States-led coalition forces.

While attending the 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos, Barzani condemned the “unjustified” attack by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) which struck Erbil province on Monday night, killing at least four citizens.

“These attacks and hostilities against the Kurdistan Region are without reason and are unjustified. We at the Kurdistan Region have done all we can to provide more services for our people and develop our relations with neighboring countries in a peaceful manner,” said Barzani during a presser.

Monday’s deadly attack on Erbil was widely condemned by Kurdish and Iraqi officials and authorities, including the Iraqi foreign ministry which said that Baghdad will take legal action and submit a complaint to the United Nations’ Security Council regarding the strike.

Barzani lauded the stance of the Iraqi federal government as “worthy of praise” and called on the international community to help bring an end to the attacks.

“We hope that the federal government in Iraq and the international community will take all the necessary measures to stop the repetition of these attacks in the future,” stated the Kurdish premier.

In the late hours of Monday, the IRGC fired 10 ballistic missiles towards the Kurdistan Region’s capital Erbil, under the pretext of targeting “spy headquarters” of anti-Iran groups.

At least five of the missiles targeted the residence of Peshraw Dizayee, a well-known Kurdish businessman. Dizayee and his 11-month-old daughter were killed as a result of the attack. Two other civilians were also killed and 17 others have been wounded.

Based on the directive of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, a high-level security delegation led by National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji headed to Erbil on Tuesday morning to assess the aftermath of the Iranian bombardment.

In response to a reporter’s question on Erbil’s stance towards the Iraqi federal government’s calls to expel the international coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS), Barzani said that Monday’s attack shows that the country is still in need of international support.

“We don’t think that terrorism has ended, and last night’s event is an indication that instability in the region is still very much at stake and that we need international cooperation and support to bring more stability to Iraq and the Region as a whole,” he said.

The Iraqi government has recently been under mounting pressure to expel coalition forces from the country, following a series of American retaliatory strikes targeting bases of state-linked militia groups.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani has repeatedly said that the country no longer requires the services of the US-led global coalition because the terror group has been defeated inside Iraqi borders.

Thousands of foreign military personnel are stationed in Iraq as part of the international coalition which has assisted Kurdish and Iraqi forces in the fight against ISIS and has continued to provide training and advice to the armed groups since the militant group’s territorial defeat in 2017.