Up to 12 missiles struck near a US consulate complex in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil on Sunday, with officials claiming the strike was launched from neighbouring Iran. No injuries were reported in the attack, which marked a significant escalation in hostility between the nations.
An Iraqi official in Baghdad initially said several missiles had hit the US consulate in Irbil and that it was the target of the attack. Later, Lawk Ghafari, the head of Kurdistan’s foreign media office, said none of the missiles had struck the US facility but that areas around the compound had been hit.
A US defence official said there had been no damage to any US government facility and that there was no indication the target was the consulate building, which is new and currently unoccupied. The attack came several days after Iran said it would retaliate for an Israeli strike near Damascus in Syria that killed two members of its Revolutionary Guard.
