The Nineveh Operations Command of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) has announced that the rocket that landed near Erbil Airport last night were launched from an uninhabited area in Ba’shiqa subdistrict in Nineveh, “located at the triangle between Iraqi amy, PMU Shabak forces and Peshmerga Forces” positions.
This morning (1 October 2020), the Nineveh Operations Command of the PMU expressed “sadness and astonishment” about “some hasty reactions,” alluding to the accusation by Kurdistan Regional Government’s Counter-Terrorism that they were behind the attack.
The statement further says that an investigation has been started, and that footage from surveillance cameras will be looked at to find out where the vehicle (which was used as a launching pad for the rockets and left behind) came from.
The KRG Counter-Terrorism aparatus issued a statement about the incident last night, saying that 6 rockets were fired by militants belonging to the Shi'a militia PMU at around 20:00.
According to the statement the rockets were fired near Sheikh Amir village east of Mosul, and that two of them failed to explode.
location where the rockets were allegedly fired from
In a separate statement, KRG’s Interior Ministry condemned the attack and added: “We are ready to counter any transgression. And we request the Federal Government to immediately take necessary measures.”
The Iraqi Army also issued a statement saying that the attack was conducted by “a terrorist group” using a vehicle on which a Katiusha launching pad was fixed. And that “an order has been issued to arrest the official in charge of the security in that area.”
Picture of the vehicle that was allegedly used to launch the rockets.
