Iraqi leaders condemn drone attack on intelligence HQ

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi leaders on Saturday condemned a drone attack targeting the Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) in Baghdad that killed an intelligence officer, calling it a “terrorist act.”

The service said in a statement that at 10 am, “the vicinity of the National Intelligence Service’s site in Baghdad was exposed to terrorist targeting carried out by illegal agencies and caused the martyrdom of an officer.” Saad Maan, head of Iraq's Security Media Cell, said that the “was targeted by a drone.”

Mansour is an upscale district in western Baghdad that houses embassies, government offices, and commercial areas.

INIS later identified the casualty as Sarmad Taib Noori, an intelligence officer in the agency.

Iraq’s ruling Coordination Framework condemned the attack as a “reprehensible terrorist act aimed at undermining the prestige of the state and its security institutions.”

“The Coordination Framework reaffirms its full solidarity with the Iraqi National Intelligence Service ... and calls for not allowing any party to tamper with the country's security or target state institutions in light of the difficult circumstances the region is currently facing,” it added.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani’s parliamentary bloc, the Reconstruction and Development Coalition (RDC), expressed “its strong condemnation and denunciation of the terrorist attack” on the intelligence service headquarters, saying the incident and similar attacks on the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) “represent a serious transgression against the pillars of Iraqi national security and its sovereign institutions.”

Parliament Speaker Haibat al-Halbousi condemned the attack, calling it “a serious violation that requires a firm stance and deterrent measures to prevent its recurrence.”

The attack comes amid heightened tensions following a joint military campaign by the United States and Israel on Iran, which triggered retaliatory drone and missile attacks from Tehran and its allied groups across the region.

Since fighting escalated on February 28, dozens of drone and rocket attacks have targeted the US Embassy in Baghdad and the US consulate in Erbil, with most intercepted by US air defense systems stationed in the country.