UN Iraq chief says Erbil attack pushes country 'towards the unknown'

The head of the United Nations mission in Iraq wrote in a tweet on Wednesday said constant attacks against the federal or regional governments, like one the previous night in the capital of the Kurdistan Region, pushes the country down a dangerous path.

“These constant attacks, last night again in Erbil, are an affront to the rule of law,” said envoy Jennine Hennis-Plasschaert. 

“Such acts are pushing the country towards the unknown, with the Iraqi people potentially paying a high price,” she continued. “The legitimacy of the State must not be threatened by callous armed actors.”

One explosive-laden drone landed near Erbil International Airport (EIA) late Tuesday, the region's Directorate General of Counter Terrorism (CTD) and the US-led Coalition to Defeat ISIS confirmed on Tuesday.

The attack did not lead to any casualties or material damage, according to informed security and diplomatic sources who spoke to media.

Moreover, US forces shot down an armed drone above the US embassy in Baghdad on Monday, just hours after a rocket attack targeted the Iraqi Ain al-Asad airbase, which houses Coalition troops.

This is not the first such attack on Erbil this year.

As recently as June 26, three unmanned aerial vehicles carried out an attack there that was condemned by the United States Consulate General in Erbil, which called it "a clear violation of Iraq's sovereignty."

In an apparent response to that attack, the US carried out a limited strike against three sites around the Iraqi-Syrian border manned by two PMF militias, known as Kata'ib Hizbollah and Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS).

Moreover, on Feb. 15, at least two dozen rocket attacks targeted Erbil International Airport, with some striking a residential area. Several were wounded and two killed, including a Filipino military contractor and a civilian.  Iranian backed militias affiliated with Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) are widely believed to have been responsible for the several attacks on Erbil airport.