A civilian contractor was killed and five others were wounded in a rocket attack Monday; at a U.S.-led military base in Kurdish northern Iraq that also left a U.S. service member with a concussion; according to U.S. officials.
Three rockets landed inside the base while others fell on residential areas nearby which witnesses told local television appeared to come from an area to the south.
The nationality of the contractor; who was killed was not immediately known, but two U.S. defense officials told NBC News; that the contractor was not an American. Of the wounded civilians, four are from the U.S. and one is from Turkey, according to the officials.
subsequently, The city’s airport was shut after the attack.
The rare attack on Erbil was claimed by a little-known Shia group calling itself Awliya al-Dam, or Guardians of Blood; one of a dozen or so newly formed small organizations; believed to be fronts for prominent factions funded and directed by Iran. The group previously claimed responsibility last August for two bombings targeting US military convoys.
Iran said on Tuesday; it opposed any acts that harmed Iraq’s security; and denied suggestions by some Iraqi officials that it had any link to Awliya al-Dam.
“Iran considers Iraq’s stability and security as a key issue for the region … and rejects any action; that disturbs the peace and order in that country,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh told state media.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Monday night, “We are outraged by today’s rocket attack in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.”
Later adding, “We express our condolences to the loved ones of the civilian contractor killed in this attack, and to the innocent Iraqi people and their families who are suffering these ruthless acts of violence,” the statement added. “I have reached out to Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani to discuss the incident and to pledge our support for all efforts to investigate and hold accountable those responsible.”
The rocket attack raises tension in the region at a time when Washington and Tehran are trying to find a way back to the Iran nuclear deal.