US envoy calls Khor Mor attack ‘an attack on the Iraqi people’

BAGHDAD — U.S. envoy Tom Barrack on Monday condemned the attack on the Kurdistan Region’s Khor Mor gas field as an attack on the Iraqi people. He said Washington supported Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi and the Kurdistan Regional Government in finding those responsible.

“We condemn the attack on Khor Mor, which was an attack on the Iraqi people,” Barrack wrote on X. “We support Prime Minister Zaidi and the Kurdistan Regional Government in finding those responsible and holding them to account.”

Barrack is the U.S. special presidential envoy to Iraq and Syria and ambassador to Turkey. He posted the statement hours after the attack halted gas production at the field and cut electricity across the Region.

The suspected drone attack late Sunday struck the gas field in Sulaymaniyah governorate’s Chamchamal district. It set off a fire and forced the field’s UAE-based operator, Dana Gas, to suspend production. The shutdown knocked nearly 3,000 megawatts off the Region’s grid, KRG Electricity Ministry spokesperson Omed Ahmed told 964media, and power was cut in parts of Erbil, Duhok and Zakho.

Dana Gas said Monday that no staff were hurt and that production would stay suspended while it assessed the damage. The fire was brought fully under control shortly after 2 a.m. Monday, and the power loss had eased to about 1,000 megawatts, 964media found.

Zaidi ordered a joint investigation with Kurdistan Region authorities. In a joint statement, the KRG’s ministries of Natural Resources and Electricity called the attack “a terrorist act.” No group has claimed responsibility.

Barrack met Zaidi in Baghdad on Thursday, and the prime minister’s office said they discussed relations between the two countries and regional security. On Sunday, Barrack praised Zaidi’s cancellation of three leases at Mosul International Airport held by companies the government links to armed factions, calling the move “sovereignty in action.”

Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum operate Khor Mor and say it fuels more than 80% of the Region’s electricity generation. The field has been hit by repeated rocket and drone attacks, including a Nov. 26, 2025, drone strike that forced a full shutdown and caused widespread blackouts.

A federal investigation later traced that strike to areas east of Tuz Khurmatu, in Salah al-Din governorate, and said it was the 11th attack on the field from the same area. The investigation said suspects had been identified and arrest warrants issued for several of them.