ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s parliament will investigate recent drone attacks that primarily targeted Kurdistan Region’s oil fields and energy infrastructure.
“Next week we will have a visit as the Security and Defense Committee to learn the details of the incident and who is behind this incident,” Mohammed Rasul, a member of parliament’s Security and Defense Committee, told Rudaw on Friday.
The military’s Joint Operations Command has also begun investigating the types of drones and the bombs and explosives used.
In the month of July, there have been at least 18 drone attacks on locations in the Kurdistan Region. Most recently, on Thursday, two explosive-laden drones crashed in Erbil’s outskirts, according to the Erbil-based Directorate General of Counter Terrorism (CTD).
“National security and military intelligence need to be brought to the forefront. Everyone should be watchful. Some parties want to create tension in the situation. They want to accuse the PMF [Popular Mobilization Forces] and armed groups and other parties,” said Mohammed Rasul, another member of the committee.
“Now a third party is playing its role visibly and is far from the eyes of security agencies,” Rasul added.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has blamed the attacks on Iraq’s PMF, a charge Baghdad has denied.
On Monday, the Iraqi parliament will convene to discuss the “terrorist attacks with explosive drones on infrastructure in the Kurdistan Region,” according to the agenda.
Aziz Ahmad, deputy chief of staff to Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, said in a statement on Wednesday that the Region has lost nearly 200,000 barrels of oil production due to the “spate of drone attacks by criminal militias on the Iraqi government payroll.”
The Kurdistan Region’s Presidency, Council of Ministers, and Ministry of Natural Resources have all strongly condemned the attacks, describing them as attempts to cripple the Region’s vital oil infrastructure. They called on the federal government to hold the perpetrators to account.
No group has claimed responsibility.
There have been no new attacks since Erbil and Baghdad on Thursday reached a new agreement on finances and oil exports.
