US, UN condemn burning of Kurdistan party office in Baghdad

The US State Department and the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) on Sunday condemned the attack and burning of the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

“The United States strongly condemns the attack on the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s branch office in Baghdad by Iran-backed elements of the Popular Mobilisation Forces,” State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus announced in a statement. She added that Washington strongly urges: “All parties to behave responsibly during this critical period in which Iraq is already dealing with a pandemic, an economic crisis and the continued threat of ISIS.”

UNAMI expressed grave concerns over the burning of the Kurdish flag and the attack on the KDP office in Baghdad.

“Acts of violence and intimidation must be condemned and are not a solution to the dispute at all,” it asserted in a statement, stressing that Iraq needs unity, stability and dialogue to address its many problems.

On Saturday, dozens of Popular Mobilisation Forces’ supporters stormed and burned the KDP headquarters in the Karrada district in central Baghdad.

The protests erupted after former Iraqi foreign minister and prominent Kurdish leader, Hoshyar Zebari, in a TV interview accused the Iran-backed militia of launching a rocket attack on Erbil late in September.

Moreover, Zebari demanded ending the militias’ presence in the Green Zone.

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