Drones Hit Near Iraq’s Erbil

An elevated view of empty streets in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq. (AFP)
An elevated view of empty streets in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq. (AFP)
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Drones Hit Near Iraq’s Erbil

An elevated view of empty streets in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq. (AFP)
An elevated view of empty streets in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq. (AFP)

Three explosives-laden drones hit near the northern Iraqi city of Erbil, where the United States has a consulate, Iraqi Kurdish officials said Saturday.

The attack came as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a pro-Iran paramilitary alliance opposed to the US presence in Iraq, held a military parade near Baghdad attended by senior officials.

The drone attack occurred overnight, the anti-terrorist unit in Kurdistan said, with two striking a house and causing damage while the payload on the third did not explode.

The US consulate condemned the assault in a tweet, saying "this attack represents a clear violation of Iraqi sovereignty".

US interests in Iraq have come under repeated attack in recent months but the use of drones is a relatively new tactic.

The United States consistently blames Iran-linked Iraqi factions for rocket and other attacks against Iraqi installations housing its personnel.

Since the start of the year there have been 43 attacks against US interests in Iraq, where 2,500 American troops are deployed as part of an international coalition to fight the ISIS group.

The vast majority have been bombs against logistics convoys, while 14 were rocket attacks, some of them claimed by pro-Iran factions that aim to pressure Washington into withdrawing all their troops.

In April, a drone packed with explosives hit the coalition’s Iraq headquarters in the military part of the airport in Erbil, the Iraqi Kurdish regional capital.

The tactic poses a headache for the coalition, as drones can evade air defenses.

In May a drone packed with explosives hit the Ain Al-Asad air base housing US troops.

On June 9 three explosives-laden drones targeted Baghdad airport, where US soldiers are also deployed. One was intercepted by the Iraqi army.

Earlier that day five rockets were fired at Balad air base, where American contractors are based, causing no casualties or damage.

The attacks on the airport and Balad came as Iraqi authorities released PMF commander Qassem Muslih.

Muslih had been arrested on May 26 by police intelligence on suspicion of ordering the killing of Ihab al-Wazni, a pro-government activist shot dead earlier that month by unidentified gunmen on motorbikes.

On Saturday, the PMF held a military parade in Diyala province bordering Baghdad.

It was marking the seventh anniversary of the group which in 2014 to battle the ISIS group that had seized almost one third of Iraq in a lightening offensive.

At the parade, PMF displayed various weapons including rocket launchers mounted on vehicles, according to footage broadcast on Iraqi state television, to an audience comprising Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.



Polio Vaccines Give Gaza Families All Too Brief Respite from War

Palestinian children, accompanied by parents, wait to be vaccinated against polio, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, September 4, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinian children, accompanied by parents, wait to be vaccinated against polio, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, September 4, 2024. (Reuters)
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Polio Vaccines Give Gaza Families All Too Brief Respite from War

Palestinian children, accompanied by parents, wait to be vaccinated against polio, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, September 4, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinian children, accompanied by parents, wait to be vaccinated against polio, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, September 4, 2024. (Reuters)

Anxious parents lining up with their children for a polio vaccine in central Gaza were counting down the hours until a pause in fighting ends in the area on Wednesday, threatening more death and destruction in the 11-month-old war.

As health officials administered the doses, Gazan mother Huda Sheikh Ali wondered what good the polio vaccination campaign could do when her children would soon face more Israeli air strikes and shelling.

"There is no protection for them, in just a short few hours the ceasefire will end and we will return to seeing children bombed and killed. There is no protection from these things," she said.

"We managed to take a breather for a few hours, for our child ... imagine what it would be like with a permanent ceasefire. The children are dying every single day and they are giving us some vaccines for polio?"

The campaign was prompted by the discovery of a case of polio in a baby boy last month, the first in the Gaza Strip for 25 years. Israel and Hamas agreed to daily pauses of eight hours in the fighting in pre-specified areas to allow the vaccination program. No violations have been reported.

But a permanent end to the war is not in sight. Diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire, release hostages held in Gaza and return many Palestinians jailed by Israel have faltered.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7 when Palestinian group Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's subsequent assault on Hamas-governed Gaza has killed more than 40,861 Palestinians and injured 94,398, according to the Gaza health ministry. The ministry reported at the end of July that 10,627 children had been killed.

Most of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been uprooted from their homes and many families have moved repeatedly up and down the Gaza Strip in search of safe shelter.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Wednesday it was making good progress in rolling out a polio vaccine, but called for a permanent ceasefire to ease humanitarian suffering.

UNRWA said that three days into the campaign in areas of central Gaza, around 187,000 children had received the vaccine. The campaign will move to other areas of the territory in the second stage.

Palestinians say a key reason for the return of polio is the collapse of Gaza's health system and the destruction of most of its hospitals during the war. Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals for military purposes, something the group denies.

Hadeel Darbiyeh, who brought her infant daughter for the polio vaccination, said she shared the pessimism of other parents in Gaza.

"Instead of bringing the vaccines, bring us a solution to stop the war," she said. "Bring us a solution for the oppressed people who have all been forced to flee their homes and into tents."