Smoke rises over central Erbil on Friday night after drone debris fell near the Arjaan Rotana Hotel, as high-rise buildings are seen illuminated in the background.
Drone debris strikes near Erbil hotel
ERBIL — Coalition forces intercepted and shot down four explosive-laden drones over Erbil’s airspace on Friday night, the Kurdistan Region’s Counter-Terrorism Directorate said, with debris from one falling near the Arjaan by Rotana Hotel in the city center. No casualties were reported.
The directorate said the interceptions took place at 10:41 p.m. and that debris landed in an open area near the hotel.
The extent of damage has not been fully determined, and an investigation has been launched.
Shortly after the incident, the Erbil Asayish Directorate issued a statement calling on journalists and media outlets to act responsibly and refrain from covering the scene.
“In the interest of maintaining security and organizing the work of specialized teams at incident locations, all media channels must act responsibly in dealing with the situation and refrain from covering incident sites, as this leads to gatherings of citizens, creates chaos and obstructs the work of our teams at the scene,” the statement said, adding: “Any media channel that does not comply will bear responsibility.”