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.
