Iraq's Kurdish region says more than 1,000 missile and drone attacks have hit it since war began

Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region says it has been hit more than 1,000 times by missiles and drones since the regional war began in February. The Kurdistan Regional Government says the attacks have damaged infrastructure, caused casualties and disrupted daily life across the region. Officials say the impact has been felt most sharply in trade, energy and investment.

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Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said the region has "paid a heavy price" in the conflict. He said the attacks came directly from Iran or from inside Iraq by militias, and described them as unjustifiable. The government also said trade across the Kurdish region has fallen by 70 percent because of the security situation and wider conflict.

According to KRG data, the strikes have hit military and security sites, energy facilities, bases and headquarters of Iranian Kurdish opposition parties, as well as civilian areas. Peshawa Hawramani, the KRG spokesman, said the scale of losses up to April was estimated at 1.5 trillion Iraqi dinars, or about $1.14bn, and that the figures had been handed to the Iraqi government. He said the region was not a party to the war and had not been used as a launch point for attacks on Iran.

The Kurdish region's account highlights how the wider war has spilled beyond the main front lines and into Iraq's north. The region has long tried to balance relations with Baghdad, Tehran and Western partners while maintaining a degree of autonomy over security and economic policy. The latest figures suggest that even without being a direct belligerent, the region is absorbing significant costs from the conflict.

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The economic consequences are especially important because the Kurdish region is already facing a chronic financial crisis. The report says disputes with the federal government in Baghdad continue over salary payments for state employees, oil sales and revenues. Damage to oil and gas sectors, along with reduced movement of companies and investment, could deepen those pressures further.

The attacks have also raised questions about sovereignty and the limits of regional security control. Kurdish authorities say they have identified the perpetrators, but the supplied material does not name them. It also does not provide a full breakdown of casualties, the number of damaged sites, or whether the attacks are continuing at the same pace, leaving the scale of the latest phase still to be clarified.

What happens next will depend on whether the attacks ease and whether Baghdad and the Kurdish authorities can reduce the economic and security fallout. The KRG has already passed its loss estimates to the federal government, suggesting it is seeking formal recognition of the damage. For now, the region remains exposed to the wider conflict and its consequences.

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