U.S. blames Iran for ballistic missile attack on Iraqi Kurdistan

U.S. officials blamed Iran after a dozen ballistic missiles struck Irbil, the capital of semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, on Sunday, BBC reports.

Two other officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Washington Post that the missiles came from Iran.

The missiles landed near a United States consulate complex and damaged a local television news studio at around 1:30 a.m. local time, the Post reported. No one was killed or injured.

According to BBC, the U.S. State Department denounced the attack as "outrageous." Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi took to Twitter, calling the strike "an attack on the security of our people" and promising that Iraq's "security forces will investigate and stand firm against any threats."

الاعتداء الذي استهدف مدينة اربيل العزيزة وروع سكانها هو تعدٍ على أمن شعبنا. تابعنا مع الاخ رئيس حكومة اقليم كردستان تطورات الموقف، وستقوم قواتنا الأمنية بالتحقيق في هذا الهجوم وسنتصدى لاي مساس بأمن مدننا وسلامة مواطنينا.

— Mustafa Al-Kadhimi مصطفى الكاظمي (@MAKadhimi) March 13, 2022

Iranian-backed Iraqi militia groups previously launched a wave of rocket and drone attacks against U.S.-aligned targets in Iraq and Syria in January. Per the Post, these strikes "did not cause casualties among U.S. service members and were clustered around the second anniversary of a U.S. decision to assassinate revered Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani."