In a statement on Saturday, Dindar Zebari, Kurdistan Regional Government Coordinator for International Advocacy, underlined that Iraq has a legal obligation to stop the ongoing attacks on the Kurdistan Region.

“The continued targeting of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq by non-state armed actors raises serious concerns in relation to Iraq’s due diligence obligations under international law. States are required not only to refrain from violations directly, but also to take all reasonable and effective measures to prevent, investigate, and respond to acts of violence committed within their territory or from it,” Zebari said.

He also underlined that this reflects binding commitments under international human rights law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

“These obligations require the Government of Iraq, as a sovereign State, to ensure the protection of the right to life and security of persons under its jurisdiction, and to take effective measures to prevent violence against civilians, including attacks perpetrated by non-state armed groups and militias operating outside state authority.”

Moreover, he said that repeated attacks on civilian areas and infrastructure in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq underscore the necessity for Iraq to exercise effective control over armed groups operating within its borders and to ensure that its territory is not used as a platform for unlawful armed activity.

“Failure to take adequate preventive and investigative measures may engage the international responsibility of the State, even where violations are committed by non-state actors. Such responsibility includes the obligation to ensure accountability through independent investigations and to prosecute those responsible in accordance with the law,” he said.

According to the latest report of Community Peacemaker Teams – Iraqi Kurdistan, published on March 30, 2026, since the beginning of joint attacks by the United States and Israel against Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its affiliated groups in Iraq have conducted at least 474 attacks targeting the U.S. Consulate, military bases, Kurdish opposition parties, Peshmerga bases, oil fields, and residential areas in the Kurdistan Region. In these attacks, 14 people have been killed and 93 injured.

Several civilian areas and businesses have been hit by drone strikes.

For instance, on April 2, Fakher Hariri’s restaurant in Iskan was damaged by drone debris. “A drone hit here, at this restaurant and cafe, but the drone didn’t explode, thank god,” he told Kurdistan Chronicle.

He said his customers were playing a Kurdish tile game called konkan, but that they left before the debris hit his restaurant.

“This is not justified, this is not a military location,” he said. “There are no Americans here, there is no one here. They just want to kill Kurds. They want to destroy the security in this country, they cut the salaries in Kurdistan, they hit Kurds by drones. But they can’t [stop us], Kurds are stronger than this.”

Additionally, on April 1, drones targeted an automotive oil warehouse owned by Sardar group in Erbil, resulting in a large fire. “There are many employees working here, because this is not only for Kurdistan, but for all of Iraq,” said Dashti Abdullah, PR Officer at Sardar Group. “We also don’t know [why] we were attacked with four drones.”

He also underlined that the Sardar Group works throughout the country. “We are not affiliated with anyone, we are a local company. This is the first time that it was attacked. This is a warehouse, this is not a military location.”