Nine members of an Iranian-Kurdish armed opposition group in Iraqi Kurdistan were killed by drones and missiles on Friday, the exiled party said, blaming Iran for the attack.
Rebels shot down several drones in Erbil, Kurdistan’s capital, the group said, while Agence France-Presse reporters heard loud explosions in the city.
The Kurdish government also claimed responsibility for the attacks on Tehran.
Idris Kolvazi of the exiled Kamal Party of Iranian Kurdistan told AFP that the strikes killed nine members of their party in their camp near the city of Sulaymaniyah.
Qatar Ministry of Interior said The statement said it “strongly condemns Iran’s attack on Iraqi Kurdistan as a flagrant violation of the sovereignty” of Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan.
During the war, the Kurdistan Region, home to US troops and foreign oil companies, as well as exiled Iranian Kurdish rebels, has been the target of attacks by Iran and pro-Iranian Iraqi armed groups.
Even after a ceasefire was announced in April, Iran continued to strike Kurdish opposition groups, which Tehran accuses of serving the interests of both the West and Israel.
But Friday’s attack was the biggest escalation yet, with the groups largely evacuating their bases and camps since the war.
At the beginning of March, as the war unfolded, – said President Trump it would be “wonderful” if Iranian Kurds based in Iraq joined the war against the Tehran regime.
“I think it’s wonderful that they would want to do it. I would be all for it,” Mr Trump told Reuters at the time.