“An explosive-laden drone was shot down near Erbil International Airport at 2:30 am this morning. Fortunately, no casualties or material damages were inflicted,” said the Directorate General of Counter Terrorism (CTD), also known as Kurdistan CT.
Several loud bangs were heard across the city as the drone was shot down.
It is the latest in a series of drone attacks in the Kurdistan Region after a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Iran took effect on June 24, ending a 12-day conflict. Several explosive-laden drones have either crashed or been intercepted in the Region since.
The attacks have been blamed on pro-Iran groups, with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) accusing the federal government of failing to address repeated drone attacks on the Kurdistan Region.
Earlier this month, the Kurdistan Region’s interior ministry specifically accused the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi) of involvement in the incidents, an accusation promptly rejected by Baghdad as “unacceptable.”
Iraqi militia groups have denied involvement and blamed the Islamic State (ISIS).
On Thursday, a drone was shot down over a Peshmerga base near Sulaimani city. A day later, another explosive-laden drone was downed near a Peshmerga base in Kirkuk province.
