Two kamikaze drones were launched at the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, according to reports at Erbil, a Kurdish news network. The report said that “two explosive-laden drones were intercepted over Sulaimani province on Tuesday, officials confirmed to Rudaw, with one crashing in the province’s northwest.”
This is the third suspicious drone incident in the last two weeks. There was a drone attack on several military airports on June 24. Drones struck radars at Camp Taji and Imam Ali bases that evening. These were precision drone strikes, clearly aimed to taking out sensitive radar sites at two large military airbases. On Tuesday, two katyusha rockets were launched at an airport near Kirkuk. The airport is used by the military as well as civilians.
The latest attack took place in the Kurdistan region. Kirkuk, Camp Taji, and Imam Ali are not in the Kurdish region. They are sites linked to the Iraqi military. Ahmed Latif, spokesperson for Peshmerga Unit 70 of the Kurdistan Region’s armed Forces, told Rudaw “that both drones were brought down within Sulaimani’s borders.”
It is not clear how some of the drones were intercepted
It is not clear how they were intercepted. One was intercepted in the Tasluja are, northwest of Sulaimani. Another was downed near the Peshmerga unit 70 base. “Latif confirmed that neither incident resulted in casualties or material damage,” the report.
A second source in the Asayish security media team,also spoke to Rudaw about the attacks. “He added that the Kurdish security forces’ investigation teams were dispatched to the scene and have launched a probe.”
The report said that on Tuesday, there was also an incident at Darkar Camp, which is northwest of Duhok. “The drone, laden with explosives, caused material damage but no injuries, according to the Kurdistan Region’s Directorate General of Counter Terrorism (CTD).”
This is a concerning pattern. “An explosive-laden drone early Tuesday crashed in a camp housing displaced Yazidis in northern Duhok province, sparking a fire but no casualties, Kurdish counterterrorism forces reported,” Rudaw noted.
This is clearly a pattern of attacks. It is not clear who would have an agenda to target Yazidis. In the past, Iranian-backed militias have targeted the Kurdistan region. This has included attacks on gas fields the Kurds control. Erbil and Baghdad are in the midst of a dispute about energy deals and salaries.
The attack on Unit 70 in Sulaimani also took place amid reports of Peshmerga unifications. The Peshmerga tend to be divided on party lines, with those in Sulaimani being close to the Kurdish PUK party and those in Erbil closer to the Kurdish KDP party.
The rising drone and rocket attacks appear to be a coordinated attempt to destabilize Iraq. Many fingers may point to Iranian-backed militias as a culprit. However, there are other threats in Iraq, such as ISIS. In addition, Turkey has launched attacks on northern Iraq in the past.