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Report: Iranian drone attack in Iraq targeted Mossad hit squad

A UAV exploded on a road in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil, injuring three and damaging several cars, according to the Kurdish counterterrorism service.

Illustrative image, Aug. 17, 2020. Photo by Moshe Shai/Flash90.
Illustrative image, Aug. 17, 2020. Photo by Moshe Shai/Flash90.

A drone attack in the northern Iraq city of Erbil, on Wednesday, targeted a Mossad hit squad, Iran’s official FARS news agency reported on Thursday.

According to Kurdistan’s counterterrorism service, three people were injured and several cars were damaged when a UAV, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, detonated on the outskirts of the northern Iraqi city at approximately 9:30 p.m. local time.

Two security sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the drone had been shot down.

A security source said earlier that a drone attack had targeted the U.S. Consulate in Erbil, but did not give further details.

“Bomb-laden drone hit Erbil-Pirmam road, causing civilian injuries and damage,” the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq tweeted. “Iraq does not need self-proclaimed, armed arbiters. Asserting state authority is essential. If the perpetrators are known, call them out and hold them to account.”

Last month, artillery fire from the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hit an area north of Erbil, capital of the Kurdish region, targeting what Iranian state television described as terror bases.

In March, the Guards attacked Erbil with a dozen ballistic missiles in an unprecedented assault on the capital of the autonomous Iraqi Kurdish region. The IRGC later said it had targeted “a strategic center for conspiracy and mischiefs of the Zionists.”

Iraqi officials later said no evidence had been found of a Mossad permanent base in Erbil.

At least three other attacks have targeted oil refineries in the city since the March attack, but no group has claimed responsibility for them.

This article first appeared in Israel Hayom.

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