A drone was downed in the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq on July 3. The drone was reportedly intercepted over Erbil on Thursday.
This happened around 10 in the evening near Erbil International Airport.
The drone was said to be an explosive-laden drone or kamikaze drone. These are the kind used by Iran and Iranian-backed groups. It follows ten days of similar attacks in Iraq.
The drone “did not cause any casualties or material damage,” the Directorate General of Counter Terrorism (CTD), which is part of the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC), said.
Rudaw media reported on the attack. “Earlier in the evening, Rudaw published CCTV footage showing the moment the drone fell in a village near the airport.” The attack came after another drone attack also took place in Sulimaniyeh’s Garmiyan area.
Sulimaniyeh and Erbil are two of the key cities in the Kurdistan region.
Similar drone attacks take place
Another drone attack occurred in Sulimaniyeh on July 2. There was also reportedly an attack on a Yazidi IDP camp on the same day.
Rudaw also noted that “remains of a suspected drone were found in Kirkuk late Thursday. It is not clear where these drones originate from, but they are believed to be related to the latest deadly war between Iran and Israel.”
Iranian-backed groups have used drones and rockets in the past.
They have targeted Israel with drones. Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq also killed three US service members in January 2024 in Jordan in a drone attack.
There have been other recent attacks in Iraq.
Kirkuk’s airport, which is also a military base called K-1, was targeted by Katyusha rockets on July 1.
On June 24, the military airports at Camp Taji and Imam Ali were also targeted with drones.
The drones hit the radar sites at the bases. Another base near Baghdad was also targeted.
According to the Iraqi media Hatha Al-Youm, “Aan informed source revealed, on Friday, that US forces stationed at the Ain al-Assad base, west of Anbar, imposed strict security restrictions in the wake of the attack that targeted the Harir base in Erbil.”
American soldiers housed near base
The source told Baghdad Today that “the drone attack near the Harir base, which houses hundreds of American soldiers in Erbil, on Thursday evening, before it was shot down, prompted American forces at Ain al-Assad base to impose strict security measures in anticipation of any emergency."
The source said, “Security restrictions remain in place at the time of writing this report, despite the fact that hours have passed since the attack, which did not result in any human or material losses, according to available information."
The source indicated that "the measures are part of precautionary measures, especially in light of the recent recurrence of missile and drone attacks, amid growing questions about who is behind these attacks, whether in Erbil or Kirkuk."
Asad base is one of the few areas in Iraq where US military personnel are located.
The US withdrew from many sites in 2020 in the wake of numerous rocket attacks by Iranian-backed militias.
The US also has forces in the Kurdistan region. Iran carried out a ballistic missile attack on the Asad base in January 2020 after the US killed Iranian IRGC Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani.
Soleimani was killed by a US drone near Baghdad airport. Abu Madhi al-Muhandis, the leader of Kataib Hezbollah, was also killed.
Kataib Hezbollah is a key Iranian-backed militia in Iraq. It has carried out numerous drone attacks in the past and continues to do so.