Drones hit oil facilities, airports in Iraq

Drones struck airports and oil facilities in Iraq, and the US-led troops shot down several over the Kurdish city of Erbil after a warning of possible attacks on hotels.

New strikes blamed on Iran hit Iranian Kurdish opposition group targets in the northern Kurdistan region, following reports that militants might attempt to cross into Iran.

Late on Friday, Baghdad International Airport, which houses a military base and a US diplomatic facility, “came under a series of attacks” with drones and missiles, a security official told the media.

Another security source confirmed there was a drone attack followed by a fire at the airport.

Hours earlier, Iraqi authorities said that rockets targeted the facility from the Abu Ghraib area near Baghdad, adding that security forces later seized a vehicle containing the remaining rockets.

In the southern province of Basra, an oil facility housing foreign energy companies came under attack twice.

A security official in Basra said late Friday that “two drones were shot down over the Burjesia oil complex, but a third got through” and hit the site.

Earlier, the facility was struck along with another oil field as well as Basra’s airport, a security source.

Iraq, long a proxy battleground between the US and Iran, has said it did not want to be dragged into the war engulfing the Middle East. But it has not been spared.

It was drawn into the war from the outset, with strikes blamed on the United States and Israel targeting Iran-backed groups in Iraq, which have vowed not to remain neutral and have claimed attacks on US bases in the country and in the region.

The northern autonomous Kurdistan region, which hosts US troops, has been a main target of attacks.

Explosions sounded on Friday near the airport in Kurdistan’s capital Erbil, where the US-led coalition have repeatedly intercepted drones.

“The international coalition forces downed four explosive-laden drones over Erbil,” Kurdish security forces said.

“Debris from one of the downed drones fell” near a hotel and no casualties were reported, they added.

Earlier, the United States warned that Iranian-backed fighters may target hotels in Kurdistan that are frequented by foreigners.

Kurdistan’s natural resources ministry said Friday that oil production at an oil field operated by US firm HKN Energy had been halted following an attack a day earlier in Dohuk province.

Agence France-Presse