The United States has not ruled out responding to the missile attack on its troops in northern Iraq

The United States has not ruled out responding to the missile attack against the international coalition led by American forces, deployed in Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, once you have determined who is responsible.

Monday’s attack is gone one civilian contractor killed and at least nine injured, including an American soldier, after fourteen rockets were fired at troops, three of which hit Erbil International Airport, where anti-terrorist coalition forces are based.

“The President of the United States (Joe Biden) and the Administration reserve the right to respond when and in any way”, said the spokeswoman for the White House, Jen psaki, during his daily press conference.

Psaki said that aside from the US soldier, the attack also injured several US contractors, which the international coalition had not confirmed so far.

The official stressed that the United States has not yet determined responsibility for the attack and that until it does, it will not take possible measures to respond to it., although he claimed that both the State Department and the Pentagon offered assistance with the investigation to the Iraqi authorities.

In the same vein, the spokesperson for the State Department, Ned PrizeHe told reporters that the investigation was still “in its early stages” and that it was “premature” to speak of possible retaliation.

The Kurdish Prime Minister, Masrour barzani, met Tuesday with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, and assured him that he had asked him to “support Kurdistan and the central government in the joint investigation to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators” of the action.

The attack came just three weeks before Pope Francis visited Erbil, a relatively stable region free from the presence of Islamic State (IS) terrorists.

Erbil airport was also attacked last September, with six missiles that caused no material damage or casualties and for which responsibility has not been determined. This Tuesday the air base remained closed, while the authorities assessed the damage, said his boss, Ahmad Hoshyar, at the AFP agency.

After what happened The UN warned on Tuesday that Iraq could fall back into instability. On Twitter, the UN representative in Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, denounced “atrocious and dangerous acts” which “constitute a serious threat to stability”.

He also called for “restraint” and cooperation in the investigation between Erbil, capital of the autonomous region of Kurdistan (north), and Baghdad.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (PDK), in power in this region, accused groups “in the shadow” of Hashd al Shaabi, a coalition of paramilitaries now integrated into the Iraqi state, of being ” of the attack ”.

The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa al Kazimi, denounced an attack aimed at “sowing chaos” in Iraq and vowed to prevent his country from becoming a “backyard” where regional conflicts erupt.

Two intelligence sources told AFP that the rockets were launched from inside the autonomous region. The attack, meanwhile, was claimed by a little-known group calling themselves Awliyaa al Dam (“Guardians of the Blood”). Security officials said they believed it was a cover name to hide known pro-Iranian factions who want coalition forces to leave the country.

Western military and diplomatic installations have been targeted by dozens of rockets in Iraq since late 2019, most of them in Baghdad. However, Iranian missiles were fired at Erbil airport in January 2020, days after Iranian General Qassem Soleimani was killed by an American drone strike in Baghdad, an attack that raised fears of a direct war between Iran and the United States.

Rockets were then fired regularly at the US embassy in Baghdad, with US and Iraqi officials blaming pro-Iran militias. In October, Washington threatened to close its embassy if the attacks did not stop.

Later, pro-Iranian Iranian factions agreed to a negotiated truce under the auspices of the Iraqi government, and the rocket attacks all but ceased.

Since Iraq declared victory over Islamic State at the end of 2017, foreign troops were reduced to 3,500 soldiers, including 2,500 Americans, almost all in Erbil, according to a coalition source.

With information from EFE and AFP

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