From 28 February to 8 August 2026: Attacks by the Occupying Iranian Regime on Southern Kurdistan
More than 950 missile and drone attacks, 32 killed, 154 wounded, and human, economic and environmental damage
Since 28 February 2026, the Kurdistan Region has been the target of an extensive series of missile and drone attacks and artillery shelling. Some of these attacks were carried out directly by the Iranian regime, while others were conducted from inside Iraqi territory by armed militias affiliated with that regime.
In some incidents, the attacking party formally claimed responsibility, or the launch sites of the drones and missiles were identified. Furthermore, the pattern of the attacks, the types of weapons, the launch sites and the nature of the targets link this entire series of attacks to the Iranian regime and its network of proxy militias.
The targets were not limited to military bases. Airports, Peshmerga bases, camps housing the families of Eastern Kurdistan parties, citizens’ homes, hotels, companies, oil fields, refineries, communications towers, electricity facilities, mountains, forests and tourist areas were also targeted.
Statistics
The Kurdistan Regional Government has announced that between 28 February and 20 April 2026, 809 drone and missile attacks were recorded, resulting in 20 deaths and 123 injuries. Official statistics of the Kurdistan Regional Government
By contrast, CPT documented 695 attacks between 28 February and 24 April, including 551 drone attacks, 131 missile attacks, 12 instances of artillery shelling and one shooting incident. According to that report, 22 people were killed and 101 were wounded. CPT report up to 24 April
When reports issued after 24 April are added—including the attacks in May, June, July and the first eight days of August—the total number of documented missile and drone attacks up to 8 August 2026 exceeds 950. However, by that date no official institution had published a consolidated list.
28 February to the first half of March: The beginning of the widespread attacks
On 28 February 2026, as the war waged by Israel and the United States against the Iranian regime began, the Kurdistan Region, particularly Erbil, became one of the principal targets of attacks by the Iranian regime and the militias affiliated with it.
During the first three days, more than 70 missiles and drones were launched towards Erbil. Many were intercepted and neutralised by the air-defence systems of coalition forces, but the debris from the drones and missiles fell in residential areas, streets, homes and citizens’ properties.
Erbil International Airport, the United States Consulate, Harir base, the headquarters of the Peshmerga’s 11th Brigade in Degala, the command of Unit 70, sites belonging to coalition forces, hotels, communications towers and energy facilities were among the targets.
In one of the attacks, a member of the Kurdistan Region’s security forces was martyred and another member was wounded. The headquarters and camps of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, the Kurdistan Freedom Party, the Komala Party of Kurdistan’s Toilers, the Komala of the Toilers of Iranian Kurdistan and the Organization of Iranian Kurdistan Struggle in Erbil, Koya, Zargwez, Zargwezla, Baneh Gawra, Dukan, the surrounding areas of Sulaymaniyah and several other locations were also targeted in attacks by the Iranian regime.
From 7 March to 15 March, CPT documented 111 drone and missile attacks and instances of artillery shelling in just one week. By 15 March, the total had reached 307 attacks, with 8 martyrs and 51 wounded. CPT report on the first two weeks of the attacks
Among the martyrs were the following members and Peshmerga of the Eastern Kurdistan parties: Jalal Rashidi “Kawan,” Ismail Rahimi “Ako,” Omid Veysi “Omid Ravansar,” Iqbal Salehpour and Fakhreddin Moradi. Hana report on the martyrdom of the Peshmerga
5 to 24 March: The oil field, foreign forces and the martyrdom of the Peshmerga
On 5 March, the Sarsang oil field in Duhok was targeted by two drones. A fire broke out in the field’s power unit, and production of approximately 30,000 barrels of oil per day was halted. Reuters report on the Sarsang field
On 12 March, a missile struck the base of Italian forces in Erbil, but caused no human casualties. On the same day, another attack was carried out against a training site used by French forces. A French soldier named Arnaud Frion was killed and six other soldiers were wounded.
On 15 March, three missiles from the Iranian regime targeted a camp affiliated with Komala.
On 24 March, a Southern Kurdistan Peshmerga headquarters in the Soran area was targeted with a missile. Initially, six Peshmerga—Rebar Abdullah, Zakri Bekhshashi, Ramin Adel, Shahab Bekhshashi, Keyvan Muzaffar and Peshtivan Mala Musa—were martyred in the attack, and more than 20 Peshmerga were wounded.
Later, Waysi Akher Saeed Shirwani was martyred as a result of the severity of his wounds, bringing the number of martyrs in this attack to seven. Reuters report on the attack
28 March to 7 April: Attacks on the leadership and civilian sites
On 28 March, the residence of His Excellency Nechirvan Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Region, in Duhok was targeted by a drone. On 29 March, a drone was intercepted near the residence of His Excellency Masoud Barzani in Erbil.
These two attacks were not merely attacks on buildings; they were also a political message to the leadership of the Kurdistan Region. The Region had declared its neutrality in the war, but that neutrality did not stop the Iranian regime’s attacks.
On 1 April, a number of facilities connected to an energy company near Erbil were targeted by Shahed drones. On 2 April, two drones destroyed a charcoal-production factory in Erbil. On 5 April, two drones targeted the residential area of Bakhtiari in Sulaymaniyah.
At midnight on 7 April, a bomb-laden drone—which, according to the Kurdistan Region’s Counter-Terrorism Service, had been launched from Iranian territory—targeted a civilian home in the village of Zargazawi, which is part of Darashakran. Musa Anwar Rasul and his wife, Mojdeh As’ad Hassan, were martyred inside their home, leaving their two young daughters without a mother or father. Kurdistan Regional Government document on the victims
14 to 24 April: A ceasefire that did not stop the attacks
On 14 April, drones belonging to the Iranian regime targeted the headquarters of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan near Koya and two camps of the Komala Party of Kurdistan’s Toilers in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah governorates.
Ghazal Mawlan Cheparawa, a female Peshmerga of the Komala Party of Kurdistan’s Toilers from Mahabad, was severely wounded and later, as a result of her injuries, joined the procession of Kurdistan’s martyrs. Hana’s report states that the attack had caused severe damage to her lungs and that, before her martyrdom, there had been delays in her transfer to and admission by hospitals. Hana investigative report
Condolence message from the Kurdistan Independence Party to the Komala Party of Kurdistan’s Toilers
On 17 April, despite the declared ceasefire, the Iranian regime targeted the headquarters and civilian camps of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan in the Khalifan, Alana and Jezhnika areas with missiles and drones.
Neda Miri and Samira Allayari, two female Peshmerga, were martyred. In the attack on the Jezhnika civilian camp, 17-year-old Shahin Azarbarzin was martyred, and his father, Nader Azarbarzin, was severely wounded. Hengaw report on the 17 April attack
On 22 April, the Kurdistan Freedom Party announced that a drone attack on one of its headquarters had wounded three Peshmerga.
According to CPT, 48 attacks were recorded from 8 April to 24 April despite the ceasefire. Seventy-five per cent of these attacks were carried out directly by the Iranian regime, and 78 per cent targeted camps and centres belonging to the Eastern Kurdistan parties.
May and June: Continued attacks on the camps
From late April to mid-May, the camps and headquarters of the Eastern Kurdistan parties in Surdash, Balisan, Gardachal, Zawia Spi, Azadi and areas surrounding Erbil and Sulaymaniyah were targeted several times.
Some of these sites were not merely Peshmerga bases; women, children, patients, elderly people and the families of political refugees lived there. Because of the attacks, hundreds of families were forced to leave the camps or relocate elsewhere.
On 27 June, tourists in Soran’s snowy region discovered an Iranian-regime “Arash-2” drone that had remained almost completely intact. The presence of a drone and unexploded ordnance in mountains and tourist areas creates a long-term danger to residents, livestock farmers and tourists. Report on the discovery of the Arash-2 drone
July: A new phase of killing
During July, 48 drone and missile attacks were recorded in the Kurdistan Region. Forty-three attacks were carried out in just one week. Erbil, Darashakran, Koya, Halabja and areas of Sulaymaniyah were among the principal targets. Statistics on the July attacks
The 17 July massacre in Zargwezla, in Sulaymaniyah Governorate, was the bloodiest attack since the ceasefire. A simultaneous missile and drone attack on the Komala site initially martyred nine people.
Later, Abubakr Houshangi, one of the wounded, lost his life on 21 July, bringing the number of martyrs to ten:
Farhad Qamari, Ahmad Mahmoudi, Soroush Nasri, Sina Safari, Yasin Kianpour, Kasra Rahmannejad, Siawan Nikikha, Zakaria Faqe Hassan Agha, Reza Sadeghi and Abubakr Houshangi. Hana Report No. 2
The Kurdistan Independence Party condemns Iran’s missile attack on Komala bases.
On 19 July, the headquarters of the Kurdistan Freedom Party near Darashakran was targeted by a suicide drone, and at least eight Peshmerga were wounded. The depth of the burns, the persistence of the fire and the nature of the injuries raised suspicions that an incendiary substance, including white phosphorus, had been used.
Kurdistan Freedom Party: Iran used explosives mixed with white phosphorus in the drone attack
Use of white phosphorus
. Hana’s preliminary assessment
On 27 and 28 July, Koya and the area around Mount Haibat Sultan were targeted by drones. On 31 July, centres belonging to the Organization of Iranian Kurdistan Struggle in Topzawa and Bashiqa were attacked, and some of their buildings and facilities were destroyed.
1 to 8 August: New attacks and fires
On 1 August, drones targeted the area near Jasenah Cave around the village of Gchina in Dukan, igniting a large fire in the area’s grass and vegetation. No human casualties were reported.
On the morning of 2 August, two drones headed towards the headquarters of Peshmerga Unit 70 in Tasluja. Both were intercepted before reaching the target, but the falling debris caused a fire. Report on the attack against Unit 70
On 8 August, the Iranian regime once again targeted the residential sites of Eastern Kurdistan parties around Sulaymaniyah with drones. One of the drones fell in front of the home of a member of the Political Bureau of the Komala Party of Kurdistan’s Toilers. The person was unharmed, and the damage had not been reported by the time the news was published. Report on the 8 August attack
Names of the confirmed martyrs
Of the 32 recorded martyrs and people who lost their lives, the names of 29 have been clearly published in official, party, media and human-rights sources:
Members and Peshmerga of the Eastern Kurdistan parties up to 17 April:
Jalal Rashidi “Kawan,” Ismail Rahimi “Ako,” Omid Veysi “Omid Ravansar,” Iqbal Salehpour, Fakhreddin Moradi, Ghazal Mawlan Cheparawa, Neda Miri, Samira Allayari and Shahin Azarbarzin.
Peshmerga martyred in the attack on Soran:
Rebar Abdullah, Zakri Bekhshashi, Ramin Adel, Shahab Bekhshashi, Keyvan Muzaffar, Peshtivan Mala Musa and Waysi, Saeed Shirwani.
Civilian victims:
Musa Anwar Rasul and Mojdeh As’ad Hassan.
French soldier:
Arnaud Frion.
Martyrs of the 17 July attack:
Farhad Qamari, Ahmad Mahmoudi, Soroush Nasri, Sina Safari, Yasin Kianpour, Kasra Rahmannejad, Siawan Nikikha, Zakaria Faqe Hassan Agha, Reza Sadeghi and Abubakr Houshangi.
The name of one security-force member and the names of two other martyrs included in the total figure of 32 were not clearly found in the available sources that were reviewed. Furthermore, no institution had published the complete list of the 154 wounded by 8 August.
Material and economic damage
By 20 April, the Kurdistan Regional Government had recorded the following damage:
- In Erbil Governorate, 726 citizens registered damage to their homes, vehicles or workplaces.
- In Sulaymaniyah and Halabja, 24 attacks on civilian sites damaged the property and possessions of dozens of people.
- In the Soran Independent Administration, the homes, vehicles or workplaces of 35 citizens were damaged.
- In Duhok, private-sector companies and civilian properties were targeted more than 13 times.
By 24 April, CPT had independently documented damage to more than 67 homes and residential buildings and 45 civilian vehicles. This figure is lower than the Kurdistan Regional Government’s statistics because CPT included in its table only the damage it had verified through its own monitoring system.
The Sarsang oil field, the Lanaz refinery, oil and engine-oil warehouses, the charcoal-production company, communications towers and several foreign companies were subjected to attacks, fires or temporary shutdowns.
In July, because of security risks, some energy companies temporarily suspended their activities, and supplies of gas and electricity declined in some areas.
Up to 8 August, no official consolidated assessment of the total damage in dollars or dinars had been published. Therefore, assigning a financial figure without assessments by the companies, insurers, the Kurdistan Regional Government and property owners has no evidentiary basis.
Environmental damage
The environmental damage is not limited to missiles and drones falling in the mountains. Fires at oil fields and refineries, the burning of forests and pastures, and the remnants of explosive material and unexploded drones can have long-term effects on soil, water, plants and animals.
Following the 17 July attacks, a fire burned approximately 50 hectares of pasture and natural forest between Zargwez, Zargwezla, Mount Swera and the Galazard mountain range. Forest and environment police, assisted by local residents, brought the fire under control. Report on the 50-hectare fire
Large fires were also recorded on Mount Haibat Sultan, in Jasenah and Gchina and around Tasluja. However, no official assessment has yet been published of the total area burned, the number of animals and other living creatures killed, the level of soil and water contamination or the cost of environmental restoration.
Legal assessment
Article 2(4) of the Charter of the United Nations prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity and political independence of a state, except with the consent of the host state, through a decision of the Security Council or within the framework of legitimate self-defence. Text of the Charter of the United Nations
To date, no public evidence has been released of Iraq’s consent to these cross-border attacks or of a Security Council decision. Merely labelling a political or armed party an “enemy” or “separatist” does not create legal authorisation to bombard the territory of another state with missiles.
Under international humanitarian law, parties to a conflict are obliged to distinguish combatants from civilians and military objectives from civilian property, observe proportionality, and take all feasible precautions to reduce civilian harm. Rules on targeting under international humanitarian law
Membership in a Kurdistani party, living in a camp affiliated with a party, or calling someone a Peshmerga does not, by itself, make that person a lawful military target. There must be specific evidence that, at the time of the attack, the person was directly participating in hostilities or had a continuous combat function.
If it is established that homes, family camps or people outside the conflict were deliberately targeted, or that the attacks were indiscriminate and disproportionate to the military advantage, they could become the subject of a war-crimes investigation.
However, a final determination of criminal responsibility requires a forensic investigation, identification of the type of weapon and its launch site, the specified target, the chain of command and preservation of the chain of custody for evidence.
Responsibility of Baghdad and the international community
Protecting Iraqi airspace, preventing the activities of armed militias operating outside the law and protecting the residents of the Kurdistan Region are constitutional responsibilities of Iraq’s federal government.
However, throughout this period, the Kurdistan Region has relied heavily on the defence systems of coalition forces, and a complete Iraqi air-defence system has not been deployed in the Region.
It is necessary to:
- Conduct an independent international investigation at every site that was attacked.
- Collect drone and missile debris and suspicious materials while maintaining the chain of custody.
- Require the Iraqi government to identify and hold accountable the militias that launch attacks on Southern Kurdistan from inside Iraqi territory.
- Provide air-defence systems for the cities, villages, camps and important facilities of the Kurdistan Region.
- Compensate those who suffered losses in accordance with Law No. 20 of 2009 and its amendment, Law No. 57 of 2015.
- Require the United Nations and human-rights institutions to follow up on suspicions regarding the use of phosphorus substances and chemical materials.
- Collect medical records, victims’ identities, precise attack locations and the types of weapons used in a protected archive.
The attacks from 28 February to 8 August 2026 were not merely a series of peripheral incidents in the war. Despite declaring its neutrality, the Kurdistan Region was turned, by hundreds of drones and missiles, into an arena of confrontation for the Iranian regime and its proxy forces.
After the ceasefire, the reduction in attacks on United States facilities did not bring an end to the attacks. Instead, a substantial share of the targets shifted towards Kurdistani parties, family camps and civilian sites.
The total of the documented cases up to 8 August indicates more than 950 drones and missiles, at least 12 instances of artillery shelling, 32 martyrs and 154 wounded. Behind these figures are two children left without a mother or father, displaced families, martyred Peshmerga and citizens, energy facilities forced to stop operating, and burned mountains and forests.
Until the attackers are held accountable, effective protection is provided for Kurdistan’s airspace and those who suffered losses are compensated, the danger of these attacks being repeated will continue.
