Iranian drone strikes Komala base northeast of Erbil, no casualties reported: Party

A drone strike hit one of Komala’s bases in the Alana Valley, in the Balisan area about 90 kilometers northeast of Erbil. The attack happened late Saturday at approximately 10 p.m. It damaged property but caused no casualties. Komala said its Peshmerga fighters in the area were safe.

Komala identified the weapon as a Shahed explosive-laden drone. The group described the strike as part of continuing attacks by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC. The accusation places the incident within a broader pattern of Iranian attacks on Kurdish opposition groups in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region.

The strike was not isolated. Iranian drones and missiles had also targeted positions belonging to the Kurdistan Freedom Party and another Komala faction in the Balisan area. The attacks have continued despite a 2023 Iraq-Iran security agreement concerning these opposition groups and their presence near the border.

A Shahed explosive-laden drone is an unmanned aircraft carrying explosives. The article identifies the weapon by name but does not provide technical details about its range, guidance system, or construction. Its basic purpose in this incident was to deliver explosives against a fixed target without putting a pilot aboard the aircraft.

The drone was used against one of Komala’s bases in the Alana Valley. Komala said the strike took place around 10 p.m. and caused material damage. The weapon’s key mechanism was its explosive payload: the drone reached or targeted the base and detonated, damaging property while leaving Komala’s Peshmerga fighters safe.

The attack illustrates how drones feature in the wider conflict around Iranian Kurdish opposition groups. The article reports repeated Iranian drone and missile strikes in the Kurdistan Region. It does not state the drone’s exact launch location or explain how the attack was guided.

The wider pattern is extensive: Iran and pro-Iran groups have targeted the Kurdistan Region with over 1,000 drones and missiles since the regional war began. The article links the attacks to the conflict that followed the outbreak of the US-Israeli war against Tehran on February 28. Iran says Kurdish opposition groups threaten its national security.

Recent examples show the pattern continuing. Two projectiles from Iran hit Kurdistan Freedom Party positions in Balisan, while two Iranian Hadid-110 attack drones struck those positions the same week. Earlier, two Iranian drones hit another Komala faction’s base, damaging buildings and a guard post.

The latest Komala strike therefore sits within a much larger campaign of cross-border attacks. These operations continue despite the March 2023 Iraq-Iran security agreement. The article records no end to the strikes, while Baghdad, Erbil, Tehran, and the opposition groups remain at odds over their future.

The source does not give a full historical explanation for why Iranian Kurdish opposition groups are based in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region. It establishes that several such groups maintain bases there, including Komala and the Kurdistan Freedom Party. Their positions are especially concentrated in areas such as Balisan, near Iran’s border.

The article explains Iran’s stated concern: Tehran accuses the groups of threatening its national security. Their presence near the shared border is also the focus of the March 2023 security agreement between Iraq and Iran. That agreement required Baghdad to disarm the groups and relocate them away from the border.

This location has made the groups vulnerable to repeated Iranian drone and missile attacks. At the same time, Baghdad, Erbil, and the groups dispute what should happen next. The article does not state that the groups chose the region for one specific reason, so their broader motives cannot be established from the source.

The March 2023 security agreement was intended to address Iran’s concerns about Iranian Kurdish opposition groups operating from Iraq’s Kurdistan Region. Under the agreement, Baghdad was required to disarm those groups and relocate them away from the shared Iraq-Iran border.

The agreement matters because the groups’ bases are near Iran and have become targets of repeated attacks. Komala, the Kurdistan Freedom Party, and another Komala faction have all reported recent strikes in the Balisan area. The article says Tehran has continued attacking their positions even after the agreement was signed.

Implementation remains disputed. Iran’s ambassador to Baghdad claimed that Iraqi and Iranian authorities had agreed to expel the groups from the Kurdistan Region or hand them over to Tehran. An Iraqi official who attended the meeting denied that agreement, and party representatives said Baghdad and Erbil had not notified them of any departure order.

If Iraq and Iran enforce the agreement as described, the opposition groups could lose their weapons and be moved away from the shared border. Their bases in the Kurdistan Region could therefore be closed or abandoned. The agreement itself requires disarmament and relocation, while Iran’s ambassador additionally claimed the groups could be expelled or handed over to Tehran.

The consequences depend on which interpretation becomes policy. An Iraqi official denied that Baghdad and Tehran had agreed to expel or hand over the groups. Representatives of several parties also said neither Baghdad nor Erbil had told them to leave. This shows that the claimed outcome was not settled when the attacks occurred.

For now, the groups remain in the region and continue facing Iranian strikes. Enforced disarmament or relocation could reduce their ability to operate from border areas, but the article does not specify where they would go or what would happen to their members afterward.

Iraq’s federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government can disagree over how to handle the opposition groups while Iran acts on its own. The article records this political dispute but does not provide a legal explanation authorizing Iranian attacks inside Iraq. It says only that Iran repeatedly targeted the groups and accused them of threatening its national security.

The disagreement is clear. Iran’s ambassador claimed Baghdad and Tehran had agreed to expel the groups or hand them to Tehran. An Iraqi official who attended the meeting denied that agreement. Opposition parties also said neither Baghdad nor Erbil had notified them of a decision requiring them to leave.

That unresolved dispute has not produced a shared response capable of stopping the strikes described in the article. Iraq and Iran did sign a security agreement in 2023, but Iran has continued attacks despite it. The source does not say whether Iraq approved any individual strike or explain the legal basis Iran claimed.