Coalition shoots down five drones over Erbil

ERBIL — Coalition forces shot down five bomb-laden drones over Erbil on Friday night, the Kurdistan Region’s Directorate General of Counter-Terrorism said.

The directorate said the drones were intercepted between 9:58 p.m. and 10:06 p.m. over the city, with no casualties or injuries reported.

The interceptions came the same evening a suspected suicide drone struck a Peshmerga ammunition depot near Tasluja on the outskirts of Sulaymaniyah, setting off a large fire and secondary explosions. Earlier Friday, a missile strike killed nine members of the Iranian Kurdish opposition group Komala at its headquarters, one of three locations hit by seven missiles, according to the Kurdistan Region Security Council. Drones were also intercepted over Erbil on Wednesday night, and Dana Gas suspended production at the Khor Mor gas field on Thursday citing “credible security threats,” cutting 2,500 megawatts from the Region’s power.

Sulaymaniyah Governor Haval Abubakir condemned the depot attack, saying “the Kurdistan Region and the Sulaymaniyah local government are neutral and responsible and are not party to the war engulfing the region.”

No group has claimed the attacks, which come amid renewed fighting between the United States and Iran after a fragile June ceasefire unraveled. Over the past week, U.S. forces struck Iranian military targets following attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran launched missiles and drones at U.S. facilities in several Gulf countries.

Community Peacemaker Teams – Iraqi Kurdistan, which monitors security incidents in the region, documented 751 attacks across the Kurdistan Region between late February and late May, attributing them to Iran and Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups.