Erbil, Iraq — Abdullah Mahmoud Tahir called his son Saturday night amid escalating drone threats in this northern Iraqi city. “No worries, father, I’ll be OK,” the son assured him. Ninety minutes later, a drone strike killed Walat as he guarded the closed Erbil International Airport. A pro-Iranian militia faces blame for the attack.
Erbil, capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, stays officially neutral in the U.S.-Israel conflict with neighboring Iran. Yet missiles and drones from Iran-backed proxies inside Iraq besiege the city. Explosions and anti-missile intercepts echo routinely across the one-million-resident Kurdish hub.
Civilian Sites Struck in Crossfire
Iran describes its strikes as retaliation against U.S. assets and Israel, but civilian targets suffer. Residential buildings and a monastery report hits. The United Arab Emirates condemned an “unprovoked terrorist drone attack” on its Erbil consulate Tuesday night.
A drone hit an Erbil church March 4 evening, where Jamil Bassam worked. “This is against human principles,” Bassam said. Thirty-six families occupied the nearby Pope Francis Residential Complex; most fled and hesitate to return.
The church sits near Erbil International Airport, which houses a U.S. air base. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq claims attacks there to avenge Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Leaders Warn of Escalation
Kurdistan Regional Government President Masoud Barzani warned after the airport strike that his patience wears thin. Pro-Iranian groups target civilian zones, economic sites, and Kurdish peshmerga bases, he charged.
“We’ve been hit every day by these drones from Mosul and Kirkuk,” said Omar Salimomar, an Ottawa native stranded in Iraq. Erbil-born, he arrived two weeks ago for vacation but faces airport closure from the war. He advised Shia militias to heed Barzani. “Hopefully, they got the message but the problem is these militias, they don’t care,” Salimomar said. “I’m nervous, my family in Canada, my wife, my son, they are nervous.”
Airport Shutdown Hammers Economy
The war forces Erbil airport closure, devastating trade, says Ano Jawhar Abdoka, Kurdistan Regional Government Minister of Transportation and Communications. “It’s a huge loss,” Abdoka stated. “It’s very important for the economy of Kurdistan region. It’s the main way we get our electronics, medicine, and the closing of the airport is affecting a lot of businesses.”
Abdoka labeled airport drones “an act of terror” and urged Iraq’s government to curb militias. “They are just tools of spreading terror and fear between our people,” he said. “We cannot remain, as Iraqis, under the mercy of proxy, uncontrolled, semi-terrorist militias.”
Ethnic Kurds in the semi-autonomous north resent Iran and fault the Sunni south for aiding its proxies. U.S. bombings hit nearby militias, sandwiching Kurdistan. “Now Iraq is very vulnerable, maybe one of the most vulnerable countries because of this conflict,” noted the minister, who represents Christians.
Casualties Mount with Personal Toll
Casualties rise slowly but steadily. Monday, Nazim Hamad Kanabi recovered in Erbil hospital post-surgery for weekend drone shrapnel wounds. Guarding the airport, “suddenly I felt something was dropping down from the sky. I woke up and I was inside the hospital,” he recounted. The blast hit three to four meters away, bandaging his legs, right arm, shoulder, and chest.
Elsewhere, Abdullah Mahmoud Tahir, in black mourning garb, greeted visitors for his 31-year-old son Walat—a bodybuilder with sons aged five years and six months. “The only thing we know is that he was on duty and the drone fell close to his position,” Tahir said as his grandson played nearby.
Tahir called Iran’s regime “fascist,” lashing at neighbors from weakness versus the U.S. and Israel. “My son, he was a very kind and good person, and he was always seeking peace. But unfortunately, because of the black regime of Iran, he’s been killed,” he said. “This isn’t our war, but it has been put on our shoulders.”
