Multiple drone and rocket attacks target Baghdad airport, oil facilities in Basra, and Kurdish region, with US-led forces intercepting threats over Erbil.
BAGHDAD: Drones and rockets struck multiple airports and oil facilities across Iraq on Friday. The attacks targeted sites including Baghdad International Airport and energy complexes in the southern province of Basra.
A security official confirmed Baghdad airport, which hosts a US diplomatic facility and a military base, came under a series of drone and missile attacks. Another source reported a drone strike followed by a fire at the airport.
Earlier, rockets targeted the airport from the Abu Ghraib area near Baghdad. Security forces later seized a vehicle containing the remaining rockets.
In Basra, an oil facility housing foreign energy companies was attacked twice. A security official said two drones were shot down over the Burjesia oil complex, but a third hit the site.
The same facility, another oil field, and Basra’s airport were struck earlier in the day. Iraq has repeatedly stated it does not want to be dragged into the wider Middle East conflict.
The northern autonomous Kurdistan region was also a major target. Explosions were heard near the airport in the regional capital, Erbil.
Kurdish security forces stated that US-led coalition forces downed four explosive-laden drones over Erbil. Debris from one downed drone fell near a hotel, but no casualties were reported.
The United States had earlier warned that Iranian-backed fighters might target hotels in Kurdistan frequented by foreigners. The region hosts US troops and has been frequently attacked.
Kurdistan’s natural resources ministry said oil production at a field operated by US firm HKN Energy was halted following a drone attack a day earlier in Dohuk province. A security source said the attack was carried out with two drones.
The Kurdistan region also hosts camps for Iranian Kurdish rebel groups, which Iran has repeatedly struck. Tehran threatened to target all facilities in the region if Kurdish militants were allowed to enter Iran.
An official from the exiled Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan said their bases came under fresh attack on Friday. So fa