ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A shadowy militia believed to be linked to powerful Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups on Wednesday claimed responsibility for a fresh wave of intense drone and missile attacks on Erbil, as the Kurdistan Region’s capital city continues to endure days of sustained bombardment that have caused civilian casualties and material damage.
The group, calling itself Saraya Awliya al-Dam - Arabic for “Guardians of Blood Brigades” - said in a statement that it had targeted what it described as “a base of the American occupation at Erbil [International] Airport,” using what it called a “squadron of drones.”
The militia alleged that the move was in retaliation for the blood of Iran’s slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed during a joint US-Israeli air campaign in Tehran on Saturday, and said the attack was meant to “deter the aggression” that killed “a group of Iraqi resistance fighters,” without providing further details.