‘Necessity of uncovering the facts’: FM Hussein, Al-Araji meet over Kurdistan Region drone attacks

BAGHDAD — Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein met Saturday with National Security Advisor Qasim Al-Araji to discuss Iraq’s security challenges, including a recent wave of drone attacks targeting oil infrastructure in the Kurdistan Region, according to a statement from Hussein’s office.

Al-Araji briefed the minister on his recent visit to the region, where he led an investigative team examining the incidents.

Hussein stressed the importance of identifying those responsible. “The necessity of uncovering the facts and identifying those responsible for these attacks,” he said, is essential for safeguarding Iraq’s energy sector.

In late July, Al-Araji visited Erbil with a high-level delegation to investigate a series of drone strikes that have disrupted operations at key oil facilities and heightened tensions between federal and regional authorities.

Their visit coincided with a day in which three explosive-laden drones crashed in Erbil, Duhok, and Kirkuk governorates. No group has claimed responsibility for the latest incidents.

Earlier that month, drone strikes temporarily shut down production at five oil fields, including two operated by U.S. companies. The attacks, which struck sites in Sheikhan and Chamanke in Duhok and Bahrka in Erbil, cut output by more than 200,000 barrels per day.

Aziz Ahmed, deputy chief of staff to Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, previously said the drones were launched from Dibis district in Kirkuk.

“The suicide drones that targeted oil fields in the Kurdistan Region last week flew from Dibis, Kirkuk,” he wrote on X. “We know exactly who’s behind these attacks and where they’re coming from.”

Dibis is home to several units of the Popular Mobilization Forces, also known as Hashd Al-Shaabi. The KRG has previously accused PMF-linked groups of coordinating drone strikes on oil infrastructure in the region.