ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - 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.
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 [am local time], a booby-trapped drone crashed without exploding near the village of Dugirdkan in Makhmour district,” roughly 60 kilometers southwest of Erbil.
The Wednesday incident was not the first of its kind recorded in Makhmour district in recent months.
Earlier this month, two drones targeted the district’s Khurmala oil field, though both were intercepted before impact.
According to Rudaw data, the Kurdistan Region has been targeted by nearly 20 drone and rocket attacks in recent weeks, many targeting oil infrastructure.
Aziz Ahmad, deputy chief of staff to 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.”
While no group has claimed responsibility, the Kurdistan Region’s interior ministry earlier in July accused the Iran-aligned Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) of involvement - a charge Baghdad swiftly rejected as “unacceptable.”
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has also criticized the Iraqi federal government for failing to prevent or investigate the escalating drone threats.
