UN: Erbil airport drone attack aimed to inflame tensions in region

Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert attends a meeting on the implementation of the Erbil-Baghdad deal on normalization of the situation in Sinjar following Sinjar Agreement in Erbil, Iraq on 17 November 2020. [Yunus Keleş – Anadolu Agency]

The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert warned on Thursday that the drone attack at the Global Coalition Against Daesh’s headquarters at Erbil International Airport aimed to inflame tensions in the region, Anadolu Agency reported.

“Last night’s events in the Kurdistan Region are another example of reckless attempts to inflame tensions and threaten Iraq’s stability,” Hennis-Plasschaert posted on Twitter.

“We condemn these acts of violence and urge the Federal and Kurdistan governments to act swiftly and in unison to prevent further escalation,” she added.

Earlier on Wednesday evening, the Interior Ministry of the Kurdistan Regional Government announced in a statement: “A drone charged with TNT targeted a coalition base at Erbil’s airport,” adding that no one was hurt in the blast, but a building was damaged.

The frequency of attacks against US forces and foreign troops in the Global Coalition Against Daesh has escalated over the past few weeks.

While no party has claimed responsibility for the attacks, Washington accuses Iraqi armed groups linked to Iran of carrying out the attacks.

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