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On the night of March 12, a drone struck an Italian military base in Erbil, northern Iraq.
Incident details: The Italian Ministry of Defense initially reported a missile strike, but later clarified that a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) hit the base, destroying a military vehicle. Ministry sources suggested the strike may have been accidental, as the drone could have lost altitude and crashed onto the base.
Casualties: There were no injuries or fatalities among Italian personnel. The base commander, Colonel Stefano Pizzotti, told Sky TG24 that troops had received prior warnings of aerial threats and took shelter in bunkers.
Origin of the drone: The source of the UAV is still unknown.
Italian troops in Iraq: According to the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, around 300 Italian soldiers are stationed in Erbil, training local Kurdish security forces. Colonel Pizzotti noted that the number of troops had recently been reduced due to heightened tensions following U.S. and Israeli operations against Iran.
Political reaction: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni changed her stance on the U.S.-Israeli operation against Iran. Previously, she had refrained from commenting, but on March 11 she declared in the Italian Parliament that the operation is “outside international law.” Politico reports that her rhetoric shift was influenced by domestic pressure, as the strikes were unpopular in Italy, and by the upcoming judicial reform referendum, viewed as a test of her coalition’s support.
Meloni also strongly condemned the U.S. strike on a girls’ school, which killed 175 people, as the school was hit while targeting a nearby Iranian naval base.
