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Six Killed in Attack on Small Airport in Iraq’s Kurdistan 

The premises of an airfield used by Iraqi Kurdish forces is pictured in Arbat, near Sulaymaniyah in Iraq's Kurdistan, after a drone strike that hit the airfield. (AFP)
The premises of an airfield used by Iraqi Kurdish forces is pictured in Arbat, near Sulaymaniyah in Iraq's Kurdistan, after a drone strike that hit the airfield. (AFP)
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Six Killed in Attack on Small Airport in Iraq’s Kurdistan 

The premises of an airfield used by Iraqi Kurdish forces is pictured in Arbat, near Sulaymaniyah in Iraq's Kurdistan, after a drone strike that hit the airfield. (AFP)
The premises of an airfield used by Iraqi Kurdish forces is pictured in Arbat, near Sulaymaniyah in Iraq's Kurdistan, after a drone strike that hit the airfield. (AFP)

Six people were killed on Monday in a drone strike on the small military airport of Arbid in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, a local official and a security source told Reuters.

Iraqi Kurdish security forces sealed off the area, according to two security sources.

Arbid is a small airport used for helicopters located 50 km (30 miles) to the east of the city of Sulaymaniyah in the northeast of the country.

Two members of the Kurdish security forces were wounded in the attack and were rushed to a military hospital in Sulaymaniyah under tight security, said the police source.

Police said the identities of the deceased were still unknown.

One security source said initial information suggested a Turkish drone was used in the attack against a suspected Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) target.

Türkiye regularly carries out air strikes on PKK militants in northern Iraq and has dozens of outposts in Iraqi territory. The PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984.

Bafel Talabani, President of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of the dominant Kurdish parties in northern Iraq, confirmed the drone strike but said the six dead and wounded were members of the Iraqi Kurdish counter-terrorism force.

“We strongly condemn the terrorist attack on the Agricultural Airport of Arbid in Sulaymaniyah, which resulted in the martyrdom and injury of six heroic Peshmerga ...,” he said in a statement.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s internal security forces, Asayish, said in a statement the counter-terrorism force was attacked and three members were killed during a training mission inside the “agricultural airport.”

Iraqi Kurdistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani condemned the drone attack and demanded the intervention of the federal government authorities to “prevent these attacks from recurring.”

Two Iraqi army intelligence officers said Baghdad will send a joint security team to Sulaymaniyah to investigate the strike.

Also on Monday, the Kurdistan National Congress, an umbrella organization of Kurdish groups and parties, said in a statement that one of its members was “assassinated” inside the group’s office in the capital of the Kurdistan Region, Erbil, without giving further details.

Türkiye often launches strikes against targets in Syria and Iraq that it believes to be affiliated to the PKK.

In April, Türkiye closed its airspace to flights to and from the Sulaymaniyah International Airport, citing an alleged increase in Kurdish militant activity threatening flight safety.

Days later, the Syrian Democratic Forces — Kurdish-led forces operating in northeast Syria that are allied to the United States in its fight against the ISIS but considered by Türkiye to be an offshoot of the PKK — accused Türkiye of launching a strike on the airport when SDF commander Mazloum Abdi was at the site. Abdi was unharmed.

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Washington Sanctions Individuals, Entities Tied to Houthi Financier

The US Treasury Department imposed a series of sanctions on entities and individuals linked to the Houthis (Reuters)
The US Treasury Department imposed a series of sanctions on entities and individuals linked to the Houthis (Reuters)
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Washington Sanctions Individuals, Entities Tied to Houthi Financier

The US Treasury Department imposed a series of sanctions on entities and individuals linked to the Houthis (Reuters)
The US Treasury Department imposed a series of sanctions on entities and individuals linked to the Houthis (Reuters)

The United States on Friday imposed new sanctions on individuals, companies, and vessels linked to the shipping network of Sa’id al-Jamal, an Iran-based Houthi financial official backed by the Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) to facilitate the smuggling of oil and arms to Houthis.
“The United States is imposing sanctions on five companies and five individuals and identifying eight vessels as blocked property for their ties to the network of Iran-based, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force-backed, US-designated Houthi financial operative Sa’id al-Jamal,” State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.
While al-Jamal is based in Iran and his network is backed by the Quds Force, Miller stated that, “The Iranian regime’s support for regional terrorist groups continues to destabilize the Middle East.”
The spokesperson also noted that the revenue from al-Jamal’s network generates funds that enable the Houthis’ regional attacks, including their disruption of international shipping in vital waterways.
“This is the eleventh tranche of sanctions we have imposed on Sa’id al-Jamal’s network, and we will continue to use the tools at our disposal to target these illicit revenue streams,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) pledged to utilize all available tools to disrupt this key source of illicit revenue that enables the Houthis’ destabilizing activities.
Its action was taken pursuant to counterterrorism authority Executive Order 13224, as amended, the Treasury said.
Earlier on Thursday, the Treasury said it sanctioned eighteen companies, individuals, and vessels for transporting and selling Iranian oil to al-Jamal.
The sanctions are imposed on the captains of vessels transporting illicit oil as well as the companies that managed and operated these ships.
“The revenue from al-Jamal’s network continues to enable Houthi attacks in the region, including missile and unmanned aerial vehicle attacks on Israel and commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea,” the Treasury said.
“The Houthis remain reliant on Sa’id al-Jamal’s international network and affiliated facilitators to transport and sell Iranian oil, continuing their campaign of violence,” said Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith.
“Treasury remains committed to utilizing all available tools to disrupt this key source of illicit revenue that enables the Houthis’ destabilizing activities,” he added.
The al-Jamal network relies on a network of front companies and willing partners in multiple jurisdictions to facilitate the sale of Iranian petroleum and petroleum products for the benefit of the Houthis, according to the Treasury.
Earlier this month, the United States imposed sanctions on one individual and three companies that have facilitated weapons procurement and smuggling operations for the Houthis.
These facilitators and suppliers have enabled the terrorist group to acquire dual-use and military grade materials and components needed to manufacture, maintain, and deploy advanced missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles that threaten the interests of the United States and its allies.
Additionally, Washington sanctioned one entity linked to illicit Houthi commercial shipments, as well as sanctioning that entity’s two vessels, including one that transported shipments on behalf of the network of Houthi financial official Sa’id al-Jamal and an affiliate of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff.
Last June, the US also imposed new sanctions on three individuals and six entities that have facilitated weapons procurement for Yemen’s Houthis.
The sanctions targeted a ship involved in arms smuggling for the Iran-backed group, and companies based in China, the Sultanate of Oman, and the UAE.
OFAC said in a statement that the sanctions involved an individual based in China.
“Ali Abd-al-Wahhab Muhammad al-Wazir is a China-based Houthi-affiliated individual who plays a key role in procuring materials that enable Houthi forces to manufacture advanced conventional weapons inside Yemen,” it said.
The statement also noted that al-Wazir uses his China-based company, Guangzhou Tasneem Trading Company Limited (Guangzhou Tasneem), to obtain these items and ship them to Yemen.
Guangzhou Tasneem is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Tasneem Trading Company Limited.
The US Treasury also imposed sanctions on another individual, Muaadh Ahmed Mohammed al-Haifi, who runs the Oman-based International Smart Digital Interface Limited Liability Company (ISDI) that has purchased and facilitated the transfer of cruise missile components, manufacturing equipment, and other dual-use materials into Yemen.
According to the Treasury, al-Haifi’s activities had played a key role in the 2020 Houthi attacks on a Saudi Aramco facility in the region using a Quds-type land attack cruise missile that contained components that ISDI had sourced from a PRC-based supplier.
Also, the Treasury imposed sanctions on the Cameroon-flagged OTARIA, which is managed by UAE-based Stellar Wave Marine L.L.C and captained by Vyacheslav Salyga.