Five drones shot down near airport in northern Iraq’s Erbil
Five drones were shot down near Erbil International Airport in northern Iraq's Kurdistan region on Friday morning, while a sixth crashed in a nearby agricultural area, a local security source said.
Baghdad: Five drones were shot down near Erbil International Airport in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan region on Friday morning, while a sixth crashed in a nearby agricultural area, a local security source said.
The source told Xinhua news agency that a total of six drones targeted Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. Five were shot down near the airport, while the sixth crashed, sparking a fire in crops and grass. Civil defence teams were dispatched to extinguish the blaze.
Erbil has come under a series of drone attacks in recent days, with the US Consulate and the international coalition base near the airport among the apparent targets.
The incident came amid heightened tensions in the Middle East following recent exchanges of strikes between the United States and Iran. Air defence systems at the US Consulate in Erbil shot down four drones targeting the facility Tuesday evening, according to a local security source.
The Kurdish security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that the air defences intercepted four drones before they could reach their target, adding that initial reports indicated no casualties.
On Tuesday, Ahmed Hoshyar, director of Erbil International Airport, announced a temporary suspension of flights due to a wave of drone attacks targeting the city. Operations resumed shortly afterwards.
The US Consulate in Erbil has witnessed frequent drone attacks in recent days. The US Central Command confirmed Sunday that a US service member was killed and another wounded in action in northern Iraq during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone on Saturday.
The incident came amid heightened tensions across the Middle East, as the United States and Iran exchanged strikes in recent days. The United States carried out attacks on Iranian targets, while Iran targeted US bases and facilities across the region.
For more details: Munsif daily.com
