Press report quoting American sources: Erbil attack was carried out by two groups of Al-Hashd and the PKK

Press report quoting American sources: Erbil attack was carried out by two groups of Al-Hashd and the PKK

Feb 22 2021

A press report reported, citing reliable sources in the American capital, Washington, stated that the investigation into the missile attack on Erbil, last Monday evening, began to reveal information about the parties participating in it, revealing that one of the most important new elements that occurred in the investigation was the involvement of a group affiliated with a faction of the PKK in the bombing of the airport and its surroundings, along with a group of militias of the Popular Mobilization Forces directly loyal to Iran.

A report by the "Al-Arabiya" website, said that the information indicated that Americans are participating with the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government in the investigations, as searches are focused on that the missile platforms were at two launching points, the first far from the airport and it is within the control of the Iraqi central government, and there are elements of the Popular Mobilization Forces directly loyal to Iran, where they fired a group of rockets, while a second group was launched from an area closer to the airport, located within the control of the Kurdistan Regional Government, and accordingly, the investigators believe that the group that carried out this part of the attack was a group of a faction of the PKK.

The report indicates that the direction of the investigation in this direction is due to the fact that Iran has worked through the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard for years to build relations with factions of the Kurdistan Workers Party PKK in order to deepen the Iranian breach in the Kurdistan Region.

The report goes on to say that the possibility of PKK involvement raises many questions about what happened in the bombing of Erbil airport, in terms of timing and responsibility, it is certain that the missiles used in the attack and its bases were given by Iran to the perpetrators, one of the Popular Mobilization Forces, and the other from the Kurdistan Workers' Party, and the method of delivery is clear due to the lack of control over the borders at the border crossings of the Iraqi government on the one hand, or in the borders between the Peshmerga control areas and the Iraqi government.

The report adds that the possibility of coordinating the attack between the two groups is a matter that the investigators will work on to establish contact between the two groups and their movement towards the launch areas, then the timing.

According to the report, there are many theories about the attack and its nature, starting from the Iranians ’insistence on challenging the US military presence in Iraq, up to the challenge of the Kurdistan Regional Government, led by the Kurdistan Democratic Party.

The report adds, as for America, it gave the attack great importance through direct contacts between the US Secretary of State and Defense with Iraqi and Kurdish officials, and through the joint statement, they issued with the Europeans.

It is noticeable that the Americans insisted on following a new rule in dealing with an attack that affects their interests, their soldiers, and those working with them, and insisted in their statements, first of providing support for the investigation, secondly giving the Iraqi authorities priority in reaching results, and thirdly saying that those responsible for the attack will be "held accountable", but they completely refused to interrupt any direct response.

This was also confirmed by John Kirby in a press conference on Wednesday, saying that the previous administration had established the equation of those who target Americans, we will respond to them, and he did not speak of a "reciprocal response," but stressed that investigations were not preempted.

A Pentagon official had spoken to the aforementioned website, stressing that the Americans are keen to protect their soldiers and citizens who are in Iraq, stressing that the US Department of Defense will give officials and President Biden a series of various options to respond.

According to the Pentagon official, the American deliberation comes from the fact that they take into account that the person who was killed in the attack is not an American and that the previous equation that the killing of an American requires a direct response is not as clear as we were before.

Source: BasNews (translated from Arabic)

308