Iraqi, Kurdish officials inspect Khor Mor gas field after attack

NEWSROOM — Interior Minister Abdul Amir al-Shammari and National Intelligence Service chief Hamid al-Shatri visited the Khor Mor gas field in Sulaymaniyah on Friday, two days after an attack on the facility triggered a shutdown in gas supplies and widespread power outages across parts of the Kurdistan Region.

The Interior Ministry said the visit was conducted “based on the directives of the Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.”

The shutdown at Khor Mor halted gas supplies used to fuel power stations serving large areas of the Kurdistan Region, including Erbil and Sulaymaniyah.

The delegation included Kurdistan Region Interior Minister Reber Ahmed, the deputy interior minister for federal security affairs, officers from the Joint Operations Command, and the director general of counter-terrorism and intelligence.

The ministry said the minister and the accompanying security delegation held “a number of meetings and field visits aimed at identifying the parties responsible for the criminal act against the field on Wednesday night.” It said a “detailed report will be submitted to the Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces regarding this attack.”

A source familiar with the discussions told 964media that officials decided to establish “a joint operations unit consisting of security agencies from Sulaymaniyah, Kirkuk, Diyala, and Salah al-Din, assigned to protect the gas field.”

The source said a separate “joint intelligence room” will also be created to oversee the facility’s security and protection, adding that “the committee’s investigation results will be presented within 72 hours.”

The field is a critical infrastructure asset because it supplies natural gas that fuels power stations providing electricity to large parts of the Kurdistan Region.