After three weeks of being attacked by drones, which began on June 24 with the targeting of several radar sites at Iraqi bases and expanded in early July to include targets in its autonomous Kurdistan Region, Iraq claims it has launched a security operation.
The attacks have targeted numerous oil and energy sites, leading to condemnation from the US, UK, and other countries. Kurdish officials have been increasingly vocal in saying that they are likely the work of the Popular Mobilization Forces, a group of Iranian-backed militias.
While Baghdad has not blamed anyone for the attacks, it has appeared reticent about trying to rein in the culprits. However, on July 18, Iraq finally said that it had investigated the June 24 attacks on radar sites, claiming to have solved the case, but didn’t clarify who it believed was behind it.
Meanwhile, the attacks have continued on oil fields and energy sites in northern Iraq, including near Duhok and Erbil in the Kurdistan region.
Iran-backed militias target Iraq's oil and energy sites
This is not the first time that Iranian-backed militias have targeted energy sites in northern Iraq. They have often targeted both gas and oil fields, as well as Erbil airport and other sites. Iran has even targeted the Kurdistan region directly, claiming that it collaborates with Israel.
The Iraqi militias are often used by Iran to carry out Tehran’s policy. For example, Iraqi militia Kata’ib Hezbollah kidnapped Princeton researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov in Baghdad in March 2023 and also killed three Americans in Jordan in January 2024.
Rudaw media, a Kurdish channel, said on July 19 that “Iraqi security forces on Friday announced an operation in western Nineveh and Salahaddin provinces to track down those responsible for a spate of drone attacks on oil, military, and civilian sites in the Kurdistan Region.”
The report noted that “the recent attacks on oil installations and fields, along with attempts to target military bases and camps, are considered sinful and dangerous acts that undermine all efforts toward Iraq’s stability, reconstruction, and development campaigns.”
The Iraqis claimed they had “launched a wide-scale search operation” in response to these attacks and that it had targeted warehouses in the desert.
“This operation comes in response to critical intelligence aimed at thwarting intentions and attempts to target security units and vital infrastructure in the country.”
Rudaw said there had been at least 18 drone attacks but that the Iraqi operation may be mostly for show. It added that “the Iraqi operation is being carried out with the coordination of several forces, including the Joint Operations Command, counter-terrorism, and the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).”
The PMF has been blamed for the drone attacks. This coordination, therefore, is the equivalent of the government partnering with a local mafia to try to prevent attacks from the same mafia. As such, it is not clear what the operation will accomplish.