A new drone attack occurred on Wednesday in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, according to local authorities.
A “bomb-laden drone crashed but did not explode near a village in Makhmour district on Wednesday morning, according to Kurdish counterterrorism forces. No casualties were reported,” Rudaw said on Wednesday.
Another attack took place on Monday. These attacks targeting the Kurdistan region have been ongoing since early July. Most of the drones have targeted energy facilities, such as oil fields. Another round of attacks occurred on June 24 when drones targeted radar sites at two Iraqi army bases. It is not clear if the two types of attacks are connected.
Kurdistan regional authorities have blamed Iranian-backed militias for the attacks. The militias are collectively known as the Popular Mobilization Forces and consist of several dozen brigades of different militias. These include groups such as Kata’ib Hezbollah, which killed three Americans in Jordan in a drone attack in January 2024. This group is also behind the kidnapping of Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Russian-Israeli Princeton researcher, in Baghdad in March 2023.
According to Rudaw, the Erbil-based Directorate General of Counter Terrorism (CTD), also known as Kurdistan CT, said in a statement, “Today, Wednesday, July 30, 2025, at 09:30 [a.m. local time], a booby-trapped drone crashed without exploding near the village of Dugirdkan in Makhmour district.”
This area is around 60 km. southwest of Erbil. Makhmour is near the border between the autonomous Kurdistan region and the rest of Iraq. It is also home to a refugee camp where Kurds live. Kurdish authorities have suggested that the drones are being launched from an area north of Kirkuk, not far from the borders of the Kurdistan region.
“The Wednesday incident was not the first of its kind recorded in Makhmour district in recent months,” Rudaw said. “Earlier this month, two drones targeted the district’s Khurmala oil field, though both were intercepted before impact.” The reports indicate that at least 20 drone attacks have occurred in July. It appears the two attacks this week may mean there are now 22 different attacks.
“Aziz Ahmad, deputy chief of staff to [Kurdistan Region] Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, in mid-July stated that the region has lost nearly 200,000 barrels of oil production due to the ‘spate of drone attacks,’” Rudaw noted. “While no group has claimed responsibility, the Kurdistan Region’s Interior Ministry earlier in July accused the Iran-aligned Popular Mobilization Forces of involvement – a charge Baghdad swiftly rejected as ‘unacceptable.’”
No group has claimed responsibility
US officials are increasingly frustrated with Baghdad for not reining in the attacks.
Rep. Joe Wilson (R-South Carolina, 2nd District) wrote on X/Twitter on Tuesday, “I was grateful on Friday to speak to my dear friend, the foreign minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq.
Iranian militias launch more drones today against our appreciated friends in the KRG. Sadly, taxpayer dollars fund Baghdad, which funds terrorist militias which attack the KRG as well as US troops and work with the head of the snake, Iran, to destabilize Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen.”
He added, “This cannot be tolerated anymore, and I will work toward PROHIBITION on funding to Iraq while it funds these terrorist militias & to require their rightful designation as TERRORIST organizations.”
heir rightful designation as TERRORIST organizations.”