ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Several drones were intercepted over the Kurdistan Region's capital city Erbil in the early hours of Friday, Rudaw's correspondent on the ground reported, adding that at least half a dozen blasts were also heard in the Region's eastern provinces, attributed to suspected drone incidents.
Video footage shared with Rudaw by eyewitnesses shows several drones flying over Erbil, with the projectiles intercepted and destroyed in the air.
The Erbil-based Counter-Terrorism Directorate confirmed on Friday that “between 4:19 and 5:25 am [local time], [US-led] Coalition forces intercepted and shot down eight bomb-laden drones in the skies over Erbil,” adding that the incidents left no casualties.
Moreover, several "powerful blasts" were heard in the Kurdistan Region's eastern provinces of Halabja and Sulaimani, Rudaw's Fazel Hawrami reported. The exact cause has not yet been confirmed, he said, though locals suspect the explosions were also related to drone attacks.
"A fire broke out in the town of Zirgwez,” located in the southern part of Sulaimani, “near camps belonging to Iranian Kurdish opposition parties,” Hawrami added, likening the possibility of the area being targeted.
Zirgwez is primarily known for hosting camps belonging to Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups, namely the Komala Toilers of Kurdistan dissident group.
The attacks come less than 48 hours after the Erbil-based Counter-Terrorism Directorate confirmed on Wednesday that the Coalition forces had “intercepted and shot down eight explosive-laden drones” over Erbil “between 8:53 pm and 9:20 pm,” local time that day.
Last updated at 9:30 am
