ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – President Masoud Barzani on Sunday condemned as a “war crime” the repeated drone and rocket strikes by armed groups on the Kurdistan Region, warning that the Region’s patience has limits and calling for an end to the “warmongering” and attacks against stability. 

In a statement, President Barzani condemned the attacks by militias against the Kurdistan Region, which have been carried out “under the name of resistance and with baseless excuses and slogans,” targeting civilian and economic infrastructure of the Kurdistan Region and Peshmerga bases and headquarters.

“Everyone must know well that patience also has limits. The Peshmerga have never accepted oppression and aggression from any side, and this warmongering and disruption of the Kurdistan Region's stability and citizens' security by those groups cannot and must not continue,” Barzani said. 

He further called for “serious intervention” from Baghdad, especially Iraq’s ruling Shiite Coordination Framework, to put an end to the attacks. 

“The continuation of this warmongering will have bad consequences,” Barzani stressed.

“Now and before, our hope has always been that whatever problems and issues exist be resolved peacefully, because war is always a cause of ruin and destruction,” he stated. 

The statement comes after a series of drone strikes targeted the Kurdistan Region overnight, killing at least one person in Erbil and another in Sulaimani.

Pro-Iran Iraqi militias have carried out near-daily attacks on the region since the outbreak of a joint US-Israeli military offensive against Iran.

President Barzani also extended his condolences to the families of those killed in the attacks.

On Saturday, Welat Tahir, a member of the Kurdish security forces (Asayish), was killed in strikes targeting Erbil International Airport. 

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani also expressed his condolences to Tahir’s family, saying he was “martyred as a result of the brutal, oppressive, and terrorist attack and bombardment on the Kurdistan Region.” 

President Nechirvan Barzani also extended his condolences, saying he was “martyred as a result of an unjust and oppressive terrorist attack on the Kurdistan Region.” 

Attacks on the Kurdistan Region have mainly targeted the US Consulate General in Erbil, US military bases, and bases of exiled Kurdish opposition groups from western Iran (Rojhelat), although hotels and Peshmerga bases have also been targeted in recent days.