Hashd al-Shaabi head decries attack on KDP office

BAGHDAD

The leader of the Hashd al-Shaabi militia in Iraq has decried an attack on the Kurdistan Democratic Party's (KDP) branch office in Baghdad as a criminal act.

Falih Alfayyadh told state television that 15 people who stormed the headquarters of the party were arrested.

He said that al-Hashd al-Shaabi was not responsible for the occasional missile attacks against the US and other foreign missions in Baghdad.

“Those who attack foreign representatives are illegal groups that have nothing to do with us,” Alfayyadh stressed.

Supporters of the Hashd al-Shaabi militia ransacked the KDP headquarters in Baghdad and set it on fire on Oct.17, according to a security official and witnesses.

The attack came amid anger over statements by KDP official Hoshyar Zebari, who blamed the Shia militia for recent rocket attacks on the Erbil Airport.

Zebari’s statements have invited a storm of condemnations from Iran-backed Shia parties in Iraq.

The KDP is one of the ruling parties in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz