ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Baghdad has failed to properly prosecute the perpetrators of attacks on the Kurdistan Region for several years despite Erbil naming the suspects, a senior Kurdish official said early Sunday, after renewed strikes on Kurdistan. 

Iran-backed Iraqi militias have repeatedly targeted the Kurdistan Region since the onset of the US-Israeli war on Iran in late February. The strikes have targeted US military bases and diplomatic facilities but have also caused damage to key infrastructure. 

Aziz Ahmad, deputy chief of staff to Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, said that “these militias are part of the government and parliament,” after strikes targeted Erbil and Sulaimani late on Saturday. 

“We always share the names of the perpetrators with the government in Baghdad. After hundreds of attacks over several years, there have been zero convictions,” he lamented. “All we hear are promises of investigations.” 

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has repeatedly called on Baghdad to rein in the activities of pro-Iran militias that have been targeting the Kurdistan Region, holding Baghdad responsible for stopping the attacks. 

“When a handful of symbolic arrests were made, the suspects were released on bail as a ruse to flee the country,” Ahmad added. 

Groups operating under the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella of pro-Iran militias, have claimed responsibility for many of the attacks on Erbil and US-led coalition bases in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.

Many factions within the Islamic Resistance in Iraq have been officially incorporated into the Iraqi state security apparatus as part of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). 

The Kurdistan Region has come under numerous attacks by pro-Iran Iraqi militia groups in recent years, particularly targeting its oil and energy infrastructure. Despite Baghdad’s pledges to hold the perpetrators accountable, the attacks continue.