Reckless rocket attack in Iraq threat to stability: UN

Nato defence ministers set to expand the military alliance’s training mission once the coronavirus pandemic eases, say diplomats

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The United Nations (UN) warned on Tuesday that Iraq could spin out of control after a rocket attack on the Kurdish regional capital Erbil killed a foreign contractor for the US military and wounded several other people.

The UN’s top representative in Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, slammed the attack on Tuesday morning.

“Such heinous, reckless acts pose grave threats to stability,” she posted on Twitter, calling for “restraint” and cooperation between the federal and regional governments on a probe.

On Monday evening, more than a dozen 107mm rockets — the same calibre used in attacks in Baghdad — were fired from around 8km west of Arbil.

They appeared to be targeted at a military complex in Arbil airport that hosts foreign troops deployed as part of a US-led coalition helping Iraq fight militants since 2014.

But they struck all over the northwest of the city, including residential neighbourhoods where they wounded five civilians, the Arbil health directorate said.

Coalition spokesman Wayne Maroto said three rockets hit Arbil airport, killing one foreign civilian contractor who is not an American national.