A missile attack targeted Turkey’s consulate-general in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Wednesday as tensions run high between Baghdad and Ankara over a drone strike in Zakho (Zaxo), Iraqi Kurdistan.
A group calling itself the Ababil Brigades has claimed responsibility for the attack, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported.
Preliminary information showed the missiles were launched from al-Sada-Baawiza, Arkoub area under control of Brigade 30 of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), which has ties to Iran and frequently engages in military operations against Turkish and US targets, a security source told Shafaq News agency.
The attack may have not targeted the consulate directly, Shafaq said, citing an unidentified source, but the apartment complex that it is housed in.
The consulate announced there had been no loss of life, but that several vehicles belonging to Turkish contractors and translators suffered damage.
The Ababil Brigades also published footage showcasing a Murad-6 delta wing drone that it claimed was used in an attack against a Turkish military position in Iraqi Kurdistan.
In the video, Ababil militants are seen vowing to “wage resistance war on Turkish occupation” and that Turkey “will not establish a new Ottoman Empire on Iraqi soil as long as there is a breath of resistance”.
Attacks on Turkish targets come a week after Ankara’s forces targeted a tourist resort in Iraqi Kurdistan’s Dohuk, killing nine civilians including three children.
