Kurdish Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq are preparing for a potential cross-border military operation in Iran, and the U.S. has asked Iraqi Kurds to support them, Kurdish officials have told The Associated Press.

Baghdad International Airport, which has a military base and a US diplomatic facility, was a target. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Officials with one of the armed Kurdish Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq told The Associated Press that they are not planning an imminent cross-border attack on Iran but would join a ground invasion if the U.S. were to launch one.

Kurdish forces in Iraq are preparing for a potential operation in Iran with US support, amid a historic coalition of Iranian Kurdish groups seeking self-determination. The Kurdistan Region Government refutes claims of involvement in US military plans against Iran.

Spread across Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey, the ethnic group of 40 million has long sought, and fought for, greater autonomy.

Israel has been bombing parts of western Iran to support Iranian Kurdish militias who hope to exploit the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran to seize towns near the

As drones swarmed the skies above Iraq's Erbil and air defences streaked up to shoot them down, residents watched from below, fearing the fire would soon reach them.For days, loud bangs have been