New Accusations Made over Erbil Rocket Attack

Kurdish security members in Erbil. (Reuters file photo)
Kurdish security members in Erbil. (Reuters file photo)
TT
20

New Accusations Made over Erbil Rocket Attack

Kurdish security members in Erbil. (Reuters file photo)
Kurdish security members in Erbil. (Reuters file photo)

A leading member of the 30th Brigade of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) accused the United States of being behind last week’s rocket attack in Erbil.

The rockets were fired from a field in the Nineveh plains that is effectively under PMF control making the pro-Iran group the prime suspect in the incident. But a commander of the 30th Brigade, Abou Sidra al-Shabaki said the attack is aimed at “embarrassing” the PMF and forcing them out of the Nineveh plains.

“This is a very thorny issue and I do not rule out the possibility of the Americans being behind it,” he charged.

The Iraqi government has formed an investigation committee to probe the attack. Iraq’s military blamed a “terrorist group” for launching the Wednesday rocket attack on the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region’s capital, Erbil, and said there had been no casualties. Another probe, including international parties, was being carried out, declared the Kurdistan Region.

Another commander in the 30th Brigade, Abou Kawthar al-Shabaki confirmed that the Iraqi committee had arrived in the area, questioning accusations against his unit.

The deployment of the brigade in the region is aimed at protecting it and all of its members hail from this area, he added.

The attack, he continued, was launched from an area that lies between regions controlled by the Kurdish Peshmerga and another by the PMF, meaning there is a security vacuum there.

‘Security vacuum’
Meanwhile, Secretary General of the Peshmerga Jabar Yawar told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Kurdistan investigation committee was probing the incident using satellite images and surveillance cameras in the area.

He explained that a security belt is in place near where the Peshmerga are deployed where PMF forces and Iraqi federal police are present. He acknowledged several points of “security vacuum” in this belt area that can be exploited by various groups to carry out attacks.

Neither the Iraqi nor Kurdish government have made accusations over the attack. They are awaiting the investigations, he stressed, while dismissing the various accusations that have been made by unofficial figures.

Political analyst Saman Nouh remarked that the attack took place shortly after the United States threatened to shut down its embassy in Baghdad, saying it may manage its interests from Erbil.

The diplomatic mission in Baghdad’s Green Zone has come under numerous rocket attacks in recent months.

“These attacks can be interpreted as PMF threats to the Americans and warnings that no area in Iraq is out of reach of the forces,” continued Nouh.

The attack was also directed to Kurdish leaderships, warning them against trusting and siding with the Americans, he added.

It is also an indirect message from Iran’s allies that the Kurdish leaders must keep in mind that Tehran has the capacity to harm them and that they must not break away from the positions of the majority of Shiite partners.

Moreover, Nouh noted that the commander of the 30th Brigade, which controls the area from where the rockets were fired, was replaced just a day before the attack. The rockets used were advanced compared to the ones owned by the PMF.

A member of the PMF in the Nineveh plains, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the former commander of the 30th Brigade, Waad al-Qiddo was behind the Erbil attack.

He said he wanted the operation to spark confusion in the region and embarrass his replacement.

Qiddo, he went on to say, is seeking to regain his post through the backing of a faction in Baghdad.

He was removed from his post over human rights violations and corruption, as well as after outcry from locals who have suffered at his hands, continued the source.



Israel Halts Aid, Official Says, as Gazan Clans Deny Hamas is Stealing It

Palestinians struggle to receive cooked food distributed at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians struggle to receive cooked food distributed at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP)
TT
20

Israel Halts Aid, Official Says, as Gazan Clans Deny Hamas is Stealing It

Palestinians struggle to receive cooked food distributed at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians struggle to receive cooked food distributed at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP)

Israel has halted aid supplies to Gaza for two days to prevent them being seized by Hamas, an official said on Thursday after images circulated of masked men on aid trucks whom clan leaders said were protecting aid, not diverting it to the militants.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a joint statement with Defense Minister Israel Katz, said late on Wednesday that he had ordered the military to present a plan within two days to prevent Hamas from taking control of aid.

The decision was made after Netanyahu and Katz cited new information indicating that Hamas was seizing aid intended for civilians in northern Gaza. The statement did not disclose the information but a video circulating on Wednesday showed dozens of masked men, some armed with rifles but most carrying sticks, riding on aid trucks

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that aid deliveries had been temporarily suspended for two days to allow the military time to develop a new plan.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli prime minister's office, the defense ministry or the Israeli military.

The Higher Commission for Tribal Affairs, which represents influential clans in the territory, said that trucks had been protected as part of an aid security process managed "solely through tribal efforts". The commission said that no Palestinian faction, a reference to Hamas, had taken part in the process.

Hamas, the militant group that has ruled Gaza for more than two decades but now controls only parts of the territory after nearly two years of war with Israel, denied any involvement.

Throughout the war, numerous clans, civil society groups and factions - including Hamas' secular political rival Fatah - have stepped in to help provide security for the aid convoys.

Clans made up of extended families connected through blood and marriage have long been a fundamental part of Gazan society.

ACUTE SHORTAGE

Amjad al-Shawa, director of an umbrella body for Palestinian non-governmental organisations, said the aid protected by clans on Wednesday was being distributed to vulnerable families.

There is an acute shortage of food and other basic supplies after the nearly two-year military campaign by Israel that has displaced most of Gaza's two million inhabitants.

Aid trucks and warehouses storing supplies have often been looted, frequently by desperate and starving Palestinians. Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies.

"The clans came ... to form a stance to prevent the aggressors and the thieves from stealing the food that belongs to our people," Abu Salman Al Moghani, a representative of Gazan clans, said, referring to Wednesday's operation.

The Wednesday video was shared on X by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who claimed that Hamas had taken control of aid allowed into Gaza by the Israeli government. Bennett is widely seen as the most viable challenger to Netanyahu at the next election.

Netanyahu has also faced pressure from within his right-wing coalition, with some hardline members threatening to quit over ceasefire negotiations and the delivery of humanitarian aid.

The war began when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

In response, Israel launched a military campaign that has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, according to local health authorities in Gaza.

At least 103 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire over the past 24 hours, local health authorities said, including some shot near an aid distribution point, the latest in a series of such incidents. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

Twenty hostages remain in captivity in Gaza, while Hamas is also holding the bodies of 30 who have died.