A foreign civilian contractor was killed and 5 others were wounded, in addition to an American soldier, in a missile attack targeting - on Monday at night - an air base of the international coalition in the city of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
And the French news agency quoted the sound of strong explosions around Monday evening in the suburbs of northwestern Erbil.
According to Western and Iraqi security sources, at least 3 rockets were fired at Erbil airport, where forces belonging to the international coalition to fight ISIS are stationed.
According to a security source, two of the three rockets landed in a residential area on the outskirts of Erbil.
The director of the Al-Jazeera office in Erbil, Ahmed Al-Zawiti, stated that the targeted base is located inside the old Erbil International Airport, and that the coalition was using it in its war against ISIS.
He said that the international coalition aircraft were flying in the skies of Erbil.
And the Director of the Health Department in Erbil, Dr. Delovan Jalal, announced that at least 5 civilians were wounded, and that one of them was in critical condition.
For his part, the spokesman for the coalition, Colonel Wayne Marotto - confirmed to the French Press Agency - that the contractor who was killed was not an Iraqi, but he did not give details about his nationality.
A US official said that the 107 mm rockets were fired from an area about 8 kilometers west of Erbil.
The attack targeted a base located inside the old Erbil International Airport (Anatolia)
Companies of Awliya al-Dam
A group calling itself the "Awliya al-Dam Brigades" claimed the missile attack on Erbil.
In the context, the Iraqi President Barham Salih said in a tweet that "targeting Erbil, which has caused casualties, constitutes a dangerous escalation and a criminal terrorist act."
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi directed the formation of a joint investigation committee with the authorities of the Kurdistan region (north), to determine the party that launched the attack.
In turn, the President of the Iraqi Kurdistan government, Masrour Barzani, condemned the attack "in the strongest terms."
He said that he had contacted Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi, in order for security forces in Erbil and Baghdad to cooperate in the investigation.
A source in the provincial police stated that air traffic was stopped at the airport due to the missile attack, and said that the police and security forces were deployed in the vicinity of the airport, fearing further attacks, and to verify the damage of the attack.
It is noteworthy that the Erbil airport was previously targeted by 6 missiles last September without any casualties, and no party has claimed responsibility for the bombing, but the Kurdistan Region authorities accused the Popular Mobilization factions of the Iraqi army of responsibility for the attack.