At around 9:30 pm, a reporter heard several loud explosions in the northwestern outskirts of Arbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region.

Iraqi and Western security sources told reporters that at least three rockets were fired in the direction of the city's airport, where foreign troops are based as part of an international alliance fighting the Islamic State group.

Coalition spokesman Colonel Wayne Marotto confirmed to AFP that the dead contractor was not Iraqi, but could not give immediate details on the victim's nationality.

Two other rockets hit residential neighborhoods on Arbil's outskirts.

Delevan Jalal, the head of Arbil's health directorate, told AFP at least five civilians were wounded and one was in critical condition.

In a statement, the Kurdistan region's interior ministry confirmed "several rockets" had hit the city and said security agencies had launched a "detailed investigation", urging civilians to stay home until further notice.

Following the attack, security forces deployed around the airport and helicopters could be heard on the city's edges, an AFP correspondent said.

"Dangerous escalation"

Iraqi President Barham Saleh tweeted that the attack marked a "dangerous escalation and a criminal terrorist act".

Masrour Barzani, prime minister of the autonomous Kurdish region, condemned the attack "in the strongest terms".

He said he had spoken to Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi so that security forces based in Arbil and Baghdad could cooperate on the investigation.

Two intelligence sources confirmed to AFP that the attack was carried out from within the autonomous Kurdish region.

Another US official said the projectiles were 107 mm rockets, fired around five miles west of Arbil.

The attack was claimed online by a shadowy group calling itself "Awliyaa al-Dam," or "Guardians of Blood."

Around a dozen, such groups have cropped up in the last year claiming rocket attacks, but the US and Iraqi security officials have told AFP they believe them to be front groups for prominent pro-Iran factions including Kataeb Hezbollah and Asaib Ahl al-Haq.

Both groups are vehemently opposed to the US-led coalition, deployed in Iraq since 2014 to help local forces beat back the Islamic State group.

Western military and diplomatic sites have been targeted by dozens of rockets and roadside bombs since the autumn of 2019, with both foreign and Iraqi personnel killed.

Long before being deployed to war zones or other theaters of conflict, private military contractors need advanced training and careful vetting to make sure they are prepared for the stresses that may lie ahead. While promising efforts are underway to standardize vetting and training practices across some parts of the private security industry, present practices vary substantially from company to company.

Meanwhile, largely absent from the conversation are the parallel issues of contractor mental health and deployment-related stress.

In our 2013 RAND study of over 600 international private contractors operating in theaters of conflict between 2011 and 2013, we found that an astounding 25% screened positive for post-traumatic stress disorder — a noticeably higher rate than in the civilian population (6%) or among U.S. service members (8% to 20%). And, even more troubling, many of those who screened positive for PTSD were actively deployed in theaters of conflict when they completed the survey. The vast majority of contractors with probable mental health problems were not receiving treatment and said they were afraid to report the issue to their supervisors or company officials for fear of appearing weak or losing their jobs.

While no evidence has been presented to link the convicted Blackwater contractors to any verifiable deployment-related stress condition, it is not infeasible to think that such conditions — if left untreated — could contribute to similar violence in the future. While overall rates are low, studies have found that PTSD is associated with an increased risk of violence. Other research has found a relationship between PTSD and decreased occupational functioning, which can pose substantial operational risks in war zones when peak performance is required.

This is not to suggest that private military contractors suffering from deployment-related stress conditions should lose their jobs. Rather, we want to emphasize that evidence-based treatments exist for PTSD and other mental health conditions — but only for those who actually seek mental health care. Effectively addressing this problem will require the cooperation of the companies employing contractors and their government and non-governmental clients to promote better screening — before, during and after deployment — of contractor mental health. Employers also should make mental health services available to contractors, and work to eliminate the perceived stigma associated with accessing such services.

It's time to start thinking proactively about preventing unlawful contractor behavior instead of focusing on how to deal with it after the fact. Regulations and standards aimed at ensuring contractor accountability for crimes perpetrated in theaters of conflict certainly have a role to play in deterring unlawful behavior. But any well-rounded strategy for ensuring the safe and effective use of private contractors should also focus on selecting and training highly qualified candidates for these often dangerous positions — and recognizing and treating deployment-related mental health issues when they arise.

Source: Molly Dunigan — is a political scientist and Carrie Farmer is a policy researcher at the RAND Corporation.