Strikes kill nine Iranian Kurdish rebels in Iraq: opposition group

Strikes in Iraq's Kurdistan region killed nine members of an Iranian Kurdish armed opposition group on Friday, the exiled party said, blaming the attack on Iran.

During the Middle East war, the Kurdistan region, which hosts US troops and foreign oil companies as well as exiled Iranian Kurdish rebels, has been a primary target for attacks carried out by Iran and pro-Iran Iraqi armed groups.

The new attacks come against the backdrop of renewed military escalation between the United States and Iran, Iraq's main allies.

Idriss Kohlwazi from the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan told AFP that "the Iranian regime attacked at 04:30 am (0130 GMT) with drones and rockets a camp" belonging to the party and its vicinity near the city of Sulaimaniyah in the early morning.

He said that the toll has risen to nine members killed after initially reporting eight. Two others were wounded in the attack.

Later Friday, a strike hit another camp belonging to Kurdish rebels, wounding two fighters, according to Komala's Amjad Panahi.

Even after a ceasefire was announced in April, Iran continued to strike Kurdish opposition groups, which Tehran accuses of serving both Western and Israeli interests.

But Friday's attack marked the biggest escalation after the ceasefire with these groups having mostly evacuated their bases and camps since the war.

In Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan, the US-led anti-jihadist coalition shot down several drones on Friday in the second such incident in the city this week.

Erbil is home to a major US consulate complex and its airport houses military advisers attached to the US-led coalition.

Kurdistan's regional presidency denounced the attacks.

"Targeting the region and the resumption of violence are a serious escalation and a blatant violation of Iraq's sovereignty," it said.

Kurdish counterterrorism forces said that "coalition forces downed eight explosive-laden drones over Erbil between 04:19 and 05:25 am (0119 and 0225 GMT)" on Friday, with no damage or casualties reported.

On Wednesday evening, the coalition also shot down eight drones over Erbil, with AFP journalists reporting that the drones were hit by air defences near the US consulate, which was a primary target of attacks during the regional war.

No group has claimed responsibility for any attacks in Erbil.

During the Middle East war, pro-Iran armed groups, operating under the umbrella of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, targeted US facilities in Iraq more than 600 times in support of Tehran.