عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Missiles Fired on Iraq's Erbil Were Launched from Iran, Says US Official

An aerial view shows Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s northern autonomous Kurdish region, on December 13, 2021. © Safin Hamed, AFP
An aerial view shows Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s northern autonomous Kurdish region, on December 13, 2021. © Safin Hamed, AFP
TT
TT

Missiles Fired on Iraq's Erbil Were Launched from Iran, Says US Official

An aerial view shows Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s northern autonomous Kurdish region, on December 13, 2021. © Safin Hamed, AFP
An aerial view shows Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s northern autonomous Kurdish region, on December 13, 2021. © Safin Hamed, AFP

A dozen ballistic missiles launched from outside Iraq struck the country's northern Kurdish regional capital Erbil on Sunday, Kurdish officials said, adding there were no casualties.

The attack was launched from Iran, a US official told Reuters. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not provide further information.

A US State Department spokesperson called it an “outrageous attack” but said no Americans were hurt and there was no damage to US government facilities in Erbil, AFP reported.

Iraqi state TV quoted the Kurdistan region’s counter-terrorism force as saying 12 missiles launched from outside Iraq hit Erbil. It was not immediately clear where they landed.

US forces stationed at Erbil’s international airport complex have in the past come under fire from rocket and drone attacks that US officials blame on Iran-aligned militia groups, but no such attacks have occurred for several months.

The last time ballistic missiles were directed at US forces was in January 2020 – an Iranian retaliation for the US killing earlier that month of its military commander Qassem Soleimani at Baghdad airport.

No US personnel were killed in the 2020 attack but many suffered head injuries.

Kurdish officials did not immediately say where the missiles struck. A spokesperson for the regional authorities said there were no flight interruptions at Erbil airport.

Residents of Erbil posted videos online showing several large explosions, and some said the blasts shook their homes.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Israeli Rights Group Accuses Prison Authority of Failing Palestinian Prisoners after Scabies Outbreak

Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir attends a discussion called on by the opposition on the release of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, Israel, 18 November 2024. (EPA)
Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir attends a discussion called on by the opposition on the release of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, Israel, 18 November 2024. (EPA)
TT
TT

Israeli Rights Group Accuses Prison Authority of Failing Palestinian Prisoners after Scabies Outbreak

Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir attends a discussion called on by the opposition on the release of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, Israel, 18 November 2024. (EPA)
Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir attends a discussion called on by the opposition on the release of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, Israel, 18 November 2024. (EPA)

An Israeli rights group said Monday that more than a quarter of all Palestinian prisoners currently held by Israel had contracted scabies since an outbreak was identified in May, and accused the prison authority of improper care and prevention.

Physicians for Human Rights-Israel said that more than 2,800 prisoners had caught the rash-like infection, with more than 1,700 still actively infected. The outbreak was seen in five different detention facilities, the group said. It was citing figures it said came from the Israel Prison Service.

The group said it filed a legal petition calling on the prison service “to eradicate the scabies epidemic,” accusing the authorities of failing “to implement widely recognized medical interventions necessary to contain the outbreak.”

It said that it halted the legal proceedings after it received a commitment from the prison service to address the outbreak. The prison service said the court had cancelled the petition because the prisons had shown they were dealing with the outbreak in a “systematic and thorough” way.

Nadav Davidovich, an Israeli public health expert who wrote a medical analysis for the group’s court proceedings, said the outbreak was a result of overcrowding in prisons and apparent neglect from prison authorities. He said such outbreaks could be prevented if prisoners were held “in more reasonable conditions.” If the first infections were treated as needed, such an outbreak could have been avoided, he said.

Physicians for Human Rights-Israel also said that the Israel Prison Service had cited scabies as a reason for postponing lawyers' visits and court appearances for prisoners. It said those steps “violate prisoners’ rights and serve as punitive measures rather than public health responses.”

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the prisons, has boasted about hardening conditions to the bare minimum required by law.