IRGC claims responsibility for missile attacks on Erbil

Shafaq News/ Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Tuesday it had destroyed bases belonging to Kurdish opposition groups in Iraq with ballistic missiles.

The IRGC said in a statement that the missiles targeted "terrorist bases" in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, without specifying which groups were targeted.

The statement said the attack was in response to "recent terrorist attacks" by the groups against Iran.

There were no immediate reports of casualties from the attack.

Earlier today, explosions were heard in three locations in the capital city of the Kurdistan region, Erbil: the US Consulate and military bases in Harir and the airport, both housing troops from the anti-ISIS coalition led by Washington.

The number of attacks targeting the coalition, which deployed troops to Iraq to fight the Islamic State group, has surged since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7.

"Air defense systems downed some of the rockets after the sirens sounded. Other rockets landed in the vicinity of the airport," the source said. "It is not immediately clear whether the attack resulted in casualties or material damages."

Another source told Shafaq News Agency that the airport administration has opted to suspend flights in the aftermath of the attack.

Similar to Harir base, which was also struck by drones, the base in the airport is also home to US and coalition forces.

Islamic Resistance in Iraq is a loose formation of armed groups affiliated with the Hashd al-Shaabi coalition of former paramilitaries that are now integrated into Iraq's regular armed forces.

Similar attacks have been claimed by Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which opposes US support for Israel in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

In early December, the US embassy in Baghdad was targeted with rocket fire. That attack, the first of its kind since the start of the war in Gaza, was not claimed by any group.

The office of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced several arrests and said some had links to the security services.

Washington has around 2,500 soldiers deployed in Iraq and about 900 in Syria. The international coalition has been fighting the Islamic State group since 2014