Condemning foreign states for settling old scores on Iraq territory, the Kurdistan Region president said in a statement that the country must not be turned into a battleground after the deaths of senior Iraq and Iranian military commanders in a United States drone attack in Baghdad airport early on Friday morning.
"These events show there is a further exacerbation of the situation in Iraq. Therefore, we reject all steps by other countries to settle scores on Iraqi soil and violate Iraqi sovereignty, "said the statement from President Nechirvan Barzani’s office.

On 3 January 2020, amid rising tensions between the United States and Iran, the U.S. launched a drone strike on a convoy traveling near Baghdad International Airport, killing ten passengers, including Iranian major general and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Quds Forces commander Qasem Soleimani, Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces commander Abu Mahdi al- Muhandis, four senior Iranian officers and four Iraqi officers. (ILKHA)