Thousands of residents in the Duhok province’s Sheikhan district on Wednesday poured into the streets to protest the Jan. 15 Iranian ballistic missile attacks on a private residence, where at least four civilians were killed while six others were wounded.
Members of various faith groups and segments of the society took part in the mass gatherings against the attacks, which have similarly drawn condemnations and demonstrations across the Kurdistan Region.
The protestors were waving the Kurdistan Region flag as well as holding the photos of those killed in the attacks, calling for an end to the repeated violations in the Kurdish region.
“Those who are killed in defense of their homelands are considered martyrs,” Mala Saeed, an Islamic preacher from Sheikhan, said in his remarks.
“They can kill us, but they cannot break our will,” a protestor, who did not provide his name, told Kurdistan24.
Sheikhan is following Erbil, Duhok, Zakho, and Sulaimani, where they have similarly held large protests against the deadly attacks that had targeted the private residence of a Kurdish construction tycoon, Peshraw Dizayee, who was killed along with his less-than-a-year-old daughter, a guest, and a housekeeper.
The IRGC said the site was a “Mossad espionage center”, referring to the Israeli intelligence agency. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) vehemently rejected the allegations, describing them as “baseless”.
Moreover, the Iraqi National Security Advisor Qassem Al-Araji and an Iraqi parliamentary investigation team similarly announced that the targeted place was a “family residence”, rejecting the allegations.
This is not the first time that Iran has targeted the private residences of Kurdish businessmen through ballistic missiles.
In early 2022, the country fired a salvo of missiles at the mansion of Sheikh Baz, an oil tycoon, alleging the site was a “Mossad spy center”, a claim that had been widely rejected by the KRG and Iraqi government. International condemnation of the attack followed later.
Source » kurdistan24