As Iraq positions itself with new leadership, after a new prime minister was chosen, the country is also wrestling with various security challenges. During the conflict with Iran, which began with US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran on February 28, Iraq suffered around 1,000 attacks by Iranian-backed militias. These militias are usually part of Iraq’s official paramilitary forces. As such, they are both inside the government and carrying out illegal attacks.
One of the main targets of the attacks was the US Embassy and diplomatic institution in Baghdad. Around 800 attacks targeted the Kurdistan Region.
Now, in a bizarre turn of events, Iraq’s Interior Minister Abdul Amir al-Shammari has said the country will acquire systems to counter drone threats, but will not provide them to the Kurdistan Region. For many years, Baghdad has blocked the autonomous Kurdistan Region from acquiring air defenses. The US has positioned some air defenses in the region.
According to Rudaw media in Erbil, the Iraqi government indicates it has “signed a contract to supply the federal interior ministry with advanced anti-drone systems to protect key institutions of the ministry, adding that the Kurdistan Region will not be included in the measure. The move comes amid ongoing regional instability.”
Shammari openly told Rudaw that Baghdad has “signed a contract with the Iraqi Military Industrialization Board to provide several advanced anti-drone defense systems.” The Iraqi Council of Ministers had made this decision in March. “Shammari explained that the system is intended ‘to protect vital institutions belonging to the Ministry of Interior’ from potential aerial attacks. However, he stressed that ‘the system does not include institutions in the Kurdistan Region,’ contradicting earlier remarks by Sabah al-Numan, spokesperson for the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, who had indicated the systems would also cover the Region.”
Hundreds of attacks in the Kurdistan Region
Iranian-backed militias and Iran have carried out hundreds of attacks in the Kurdistan Region. They have attacked energy sites, as well as Kurdish Iranian opposition groups and consulates of the US and UAE. “Shammari’s remarks come amid heightened tensions and a surge in drone and missile attacks by Iran and Iran-aligned armed groups in Iraq targeting US interests in the country, including the Kurdistan Region, which they said were carried out in response to US and Israeli strikes,” Rudaw notes.
The Kurdistan Regional Government has said that its region has been targeted by 809 drones and missiles since February 28. The attacks have continued in recent weeks, despite the US-Iran ceasefire. Baghdad has said that it is the main address responsible for providing air defenses to the Kurdistan Region. However, it refuses to supply them, creating a Catch-22. The region is then prevented from importing systems on its own. According to the KRG, a total of 20 people were killed in the 800 drone and missile attacks. 121 people were injured.
Meanwhile, the US has put out a statement on Iraq’s new prime minister. “The U.S. Mission in Iraq extends its best wishes to Prime Minister-designate Ali Al-Zaydi in his efforts to form a government capable of achieving the aspirations of all Iraqis for a brighter and more peaceful future. We express our solidarity with the Iraqi people in their pursuit of shared goals, including safeguarding Iraq’s sovereignty, enhancing security to combat terrorism, and building a prosperous future that delivers tangible benefits for both Americans and Iraqis.”
Syria is increasingly wary of the threats from Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. The militias have not only attacked the US in Iraq, as well as the Kurdistan Region, but they have also targeted Kuwait and Gulf countries. “Syria’s permanent envoy to the United Nations on Tuesday called on the Iraqi and Lebanese governments to deploy official state forces along Syrian borders and prevent the spread of militia groups there, amid ongoing regional instability,” Rudaw noted. Addressing a UN Security Council, the Syrian envoy Ibrahim Olabi said “we also support limiting weapons to the hands of the state in Iraq and call on both brotherly countries, Iraq and Lebanon, to deploy forces in the border areas with Syria and prevent militias from spreading there.”
Source:
www.jpost.com
