ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – An unidentified drone strike targeted an artillery storage facility in northwest Sulaimani province’s Qalachwalan in the early hours of Tuesday, sparking a large blaze as the Kurdistan Region continues to be targeted by projectiles.

The drone targeted an artillery unit in Qalachwalan, according to The New Region’s correspondent, adding that casualties and damages remain unknown as authorities have yet to comment.

The military base belongs to units affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). Qalachwalan is a strategic area that previously housed the PUK's politburo headquarters, and currently hosts a number of security bases.

It is the second such attack and third to target Sulaimani since hostilities resumed between the US and Iran. Earlier, a weapons and ammunition depot in the province was struck by a projectile, causing significant damage. 

“The security and sovereignty of our nation has faced a grave and unacceptable violation. A ballistic missile was fired at us from Iran, targeting our heroic security forces. This provocative act is deliberate, constitutes a serious violation of international law, and we strongly condemn it,” PUK leader Bafel Talabani said at the time.

No party has claimed the attack at the time of writing this article.

Erbil, Koya, Alana Valley, and Qalachwalan have been targeted in just the past 24 hours, despite the warring parties ending hostilities and Kurdish authorities reiterating that they are not party to any conflict.

On Monday, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said a recent spate of drone strikes that targeted Erbil originated from the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, calling on the federal government to hold the perpetrators accountable.

Erbil and the Kurdistan Region have come under wave after wave of attacks since the breakdown of the US-Iran ceasefire agreement and the reemergence of hostilities, with strikes focusing on US interests and the bases of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups.

“We will again say that the federal government is responsible for preventing the source of these attacks and threats against the Region. It must not allow the outlaws to threaten the security and stability of the Kurdistan Region and all of Iraq in this manner,” Barzani stressed. 

In May, Tehran declared the Kurdistan Region a site of “hostile bases” under its security doctrine, warning that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had been given the same designation, making both subject to preemptive strikes.

Sixteen bomb-laden drones were intercepted over the Kurdish capital within the span of three days last week, prompting the US embassy to urge its citizens to remain on high alert.

The Kurdistan Region came under hundreds of drone and missile attacks by Iran and its Iraqi proxies from late February until Tehran and Washington signed a memorandum of understanding in mid-June. Attacks resumed after hostilities between the two sides flared again on July 8, just 21 days after the agreement was signed.