Iraqi forces shoot down unidentified drone over Kirkuk

KIRKUK — Iraqi forces shot down an unidentified drone flying at low altitude over Kirkuk governorate Thursday morning, the Defense Ministry said, with a field engineering team deployed to the crash site to handle the wreckage.

The ministry said the drone was detected at 10:45 a.m. within the area of responsibility of the 3rd Regiment, 44th Brigade, 11th Infantry Division, and was brought down in al-Fakhira village with no casualties. It did not specify the drone’s origin, type or intended target.

The incident comes a day after an airstrike on Habbaniyah base in Anbar killed seven military personnel and wounded 13 others — the second consecutive strike on the same site — prompting Prime Minister Sudani to say Iraq “has the right to respond by all available means” and order the summoning of the U.S. chargé d’affaires and the filing of a complaint with the UN Security Council.