Zebari, who currently serves as a military adviser to Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, told the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP) official media outlet on Saturday, October 3, that the “cowardly attempt” comes at a sensitive time, with the US considering shuttering its embassy in Baghdad.
On Wednesday evening, six rockets were fired in the direction of Erbil International Airport, but landed without causing any casualties or significant damage. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) subsequently blamed militants associated with the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).
“Currently, the situation of Iraq in general, and the capital in particular, is complicated and it is dangerous in terms of security,” he said, adding that some groups wanted to expose the Kurdistan Region to those dynamics as well.
“The security of the Kurdistan Region cannot be compared to other parts of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region will never be Baghdad,” he asserted.
Babakir said that he supported the idea of removing “some forces and individuals from the Line of Contact” and the disputed areas, likely referring to certain groups within the PMF.
“We do not hide the fact that there are bad people among some Iraqi groups and forces and those people should not remain within those areas. This is the best solution to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents to last week,” he said.
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