A missile attack has targeted an oil refinery in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil, causing minor damage to a key oil refinery, according to officials.

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) counterterrorism forces on Sunday said in a statement that six missiles had landed around the KAR refinery in the region’s capital and most populated city.

The statement added that the missiles were fired from the town of Bartella in neighbouring Nineveh province.

A fire in one of the main refinery tanks that had been hit was later brought under control, Iraqi security forces also said in a statement.

A missile landed on the outer fence of the refinery without causing any casualties, the Iraqi security forces’ statement added.

The security forces said they found a launchpad and four missiles in the Nineveh Plain after the attack and defused them.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi said his country’s armed forces will pursue the perpetrators of what he called a “cowardly attack”, while discussing the security situation in a phone call with the former president of the KRG and head of the region’s largest party, Masoud Barzani, the prime minister’s office said on Twitter.

Three missiles also fell near the refinery on April 6, without causing any casualties.

In March, Iran attacked Erbil with a dozen ballistic missiles in an unprecedented assault on the capital of the autonomous Iraqi Kurdish region, which appeared to target the United States and its allies.

Iranian security forces said it had targeted Israel’s “strategic centre” in the country. KRG authorities have insisted Israel has no facilities in or near Erbil.

One person was hurt in the March attack.