Did you hear the explosion yesterday in Erbil? Officials confirmed the blast on Saturday was not an attack but simply an accident. Three Peshmerga soldiers were lightly wounded in a blast at the Zeravani Peshmerga building on 60m. One of the generator at the Zeravani Peshmerga office caught on fire which then spread to an ammunition depot which sparked the loud blast. The fire was quickly under control.
Some weekend drama as the Kurdish presidency denied that a telephone call took place this week between Kurdish President Masoud Barzani and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. The US Consulate General in Erbil had posted a statement on Facebook on Friday of what it said was readout of phone calls between Tillerson and “Iraqi Kurdistan President Masoud” Barzani, and Tillerson and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Thursday. The statement published on the official Us consulate Facebook page on Friday was later deleted on Saturday following the Kurdistan Region’s Presidency denying the call ever happened.
More Iraqi drama as former guest and Miss Iraq winner Vian Sulaimani was stripped of her title over the weekend due to misinformation given during her registration process. She had apparently previously been married according to a press release from Miss Iraq’s official Facebook page on Thursday. Article number 4 of the rules and regulations of the pageant states “Participant must never be married in any form, whether religious or civil and have not given birth to a child.” Vian denies these claims but the title is likely to go to runner up Masty Hama Adel from Halabja.
