Mortar shells land near Erbil airport, Iraqi Kurdish security sources say

At least three mortar shells landed near Erbil International Airport in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq without causing any casualties, Kurdish Peshmerga sources said on Monday. A Reuters reporter heard several blasts and saw a fire blazing for a few minutes in the vicinity of the airport.

At least three mortar shells landed near Erbil International Airport in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq without causing any casualties, Kurdish Peshmerga sources said on Monday.

A Reuters reporter heard several blasts and saw a fire blazing for a few minutes in the vicinity of the airport. One security official said the total number of mortars fired was five. It was not immediately clear if a U.S. military base housing U.S. troops near the airport was the target of the attack.

Security officials said the Erbil airport was shut down and flights were halted for safety issues. One of the shell fell near a residential area and three people were wounded, Kurdish security officials said.

Video footage aired on local televisions showed damaged vehicles and shattered glass covering an area where one mortar shell fell. No group claimed immediate responsibility for the attack.

On Sept. 30, six Katyusha rockets fell near Erbil airport, an attack which the Iraqi Kurdistan's counterterrorism service blamed on Iran-backed Iraqi Shi'ite militia groups.