The United Kingdom has condemned a drone attack targeting the residence of Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani in Duhok, according to reporting from Kurdistan24.
The report said British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper spoke by phone with Barzani on Sunday and strongly denounced the attack. A statement from the Kurdistan Region Presidency said Cooper offered condolences to the president and to the families of Peshmerga members who were killed or injured in the incident.
The conversation also covered the broader security picture in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. Cooper reaffirmed Britain’s commitment to supporting stability and peace and to continuing cooperation with the Kurdish leadership. Barzani, for his part, thanked Cooper for what the statement described as her support.
The attack itself was not detailed in the excerpt beyond the fact that it targeted Barzani’s private residence in Duhok and that Peshmerga casualties had occurred. That limited disclosure means the key verified point is the diplomatic response rather than the full technical or political mechanics of the strike.
Even so, the call matters because it shows how quickly external powers responded to a high-profile attack on a senior Kurdish leader’s home. In a region where drone strikes and militia activity are often part of wider political signaling, public condemnation from a major foreign government can serve both as diplomatic pressure and reassurance.
The Kurdistan Region Presidency’s statement also suggests the strike was serious enough to trigger immediate contacts at senior level. Cooper’s call framed the attack not simply as a local security incident but as an event with implications for regional stability. That is consistent with Britain’s broader position in Iraq, where it has often emphasized state stability, coalition support and the protection of civilian institutions.
The reporting did not identify the perpetrators or say whether any group had claimed responsibility. It also did not set out whether the attack caused material damage beyond the casualties noted in the statement. Those omissions matter because they leave the incident in an early and partially opaque phase, where official condemnation has outpaced public attribution.
What can be said confidently from the supplied evidence is that the British government publicly aligned itself with the Kurdistan Region’s leadership and condemned the strike in direct terms. For Barzani, that support may help underscore his position after an attack on his own residence. For the UK, it is a way of reinforcing a message of backing for regional stability at a moment of elevated tension.
The exchange is another reminder that even when the details of a strike remain unclear, the diplomatic fallout can be immediate. In this case, the first verified consequence was the public condemnation delivered over the phone between London and Erbil.
The public response from London also shows how quickly an attack on a Kurdish leader can become a broader international issue. Even with limited detail about the strike itself, the UK’s condemnation adds diplomatic weight to the presidency’s account and signals that outside partners are watching the security situation in the Kurdistan Region closely.
