Skip to main content

13 killed and 58 injured in Iranian air strikes on Iraq’s Kurdish region, 28 Sept

Countries
Iraq
+ 1 more
Sources
AOAV
Publication date
Origin
View original

On 28 September, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards fired missiles and drones into northern Iraq’s Kurdish region, in retaliation for the alleged involvement of Iranian Kurdish dissidents in the unrest currently plaguing Iran in the wake of Mahsa Amini’s death.

The projectiles struck towns in Erbil and Sulaimaniya on Wednesday morning, killing at least 13 people, including a pregnant woman, and injuring 58 more.

On the same day, seven security guards were injured by rocket attacks in Baghdad’s Green Zone as protestors marched on Parliament, which is convening for the first time in two months. Following the rocket attacks, the protests escalated into armed clashes, leaving many killed and injured.

In 2022, AOAV has recorded 214 incidents of explosive violence in Iraq, which have resulted in 834 civilian casualties (150 killed and 684 injured). The majority of civilian casualties, 57%, were caused by ground-launched weapons, while air-launched weapons caused 23%.

State actors are the reported perpetrators in the case of 24% of civilian casualties, and non-state actors in the case of 16%. In particular, Turkey has reportedly caused 15% of civilian casualties in Iraq in 2022, and Iran 9%.

Overall, AOAV has recorded 5,302 incidents of explosive violence in Iraq since 2010, and 59,428 civilian casualties. State actors are the reported perpetrators of 12% of civilian casualties, and non-state actors of 30%.

Unknown state actors have caused the majority, 39%, of civilian casualties of state-perpetrated explosive violence, while Iraq has caused 26% and the US-led coalition 22%.

AOAV’s casualty figures represent the lowest of estimations in terms of the number of people killed and injured by explosive weapon use. In an effort to quantify the explicit harm caused by specific explosive weapons, AOAV solely records incident-specific casualty figures, as reported in English-language media.