A coincidence prevented a massacre in Erbil

Shafaq News / Mustafa from Kobane and Nawaf from Saladin did not predict that their usual evening on Erbil city's outskirts is their last after Kurdistan's capital was bombarded on February 15th. A foreign contractor was killed in the initial toll, and seven people were injured, including an American soldier, and Mustafa and Nawaf.

Since last September, this is the second attack when unknown assailants targeted the airport with six rockets without casualties. Erbil, at the time, accused factions of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) of launching the attack – as the rockets were fired from Nineveh Plains, where they are deployed.

In this attack, Kurdish officials accused factions under the PMF's umbrella of carrying out the shelling.

However, the PMF denied responsibility for the bombings.

Nawaf's death

During this report's preparation, Erbil's Health Directorate was informed that one of the injured by the rocket attack died due to his wounds.

He was identified as Nawaf Rashid who fled from his home city, Saladin, to Erbil where he was injured when a rocket landed near a livestock market.

Nawaf Rashid was in a coma due to a hemorrhage in his head, a tissue tear, and many fractures. He died on Monday, February 22nd, 2021.

He and his family fled to Erbil after ISIS invaded several areas of Iraq in 2014.

Erbil was bombarded on February 15th, 2021 by several missiles, two of which landed in its international airport, and the rest in residential neighborhoods and near diplomatic missions.

According to Erbil Health Directorate, Mustafa Qadir (17 years old), from Kobane in northeastern Syria, was injured.

He came with two of his brothers to work in Kurdistan, where he, Nawaf Rashid, and others settled to work in the livestock market.

The last evening

Shafaq News agency's reporter monitored the shelling's site near the livestock market and spoke to several workers who were spending their evenings inside a house with Mustafa, Nawaf, and more than 20 others daily after completing their work.

However, it was a coincidence that the workers, on the night of the bombing, were busy unloading a load of animal feed and livestock that had arrived from Syria, and only Mustafa and Nawaf were in that house.

According to Erbil's Health Directorate, Mustafa's condition is stabilizing after he undertook surgical intervention.

A joint committee from Baghdad and Erbil is expected to announce the results of a bombing investigation.