ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A suicide drone attempting to target forces of the US-led global coalition was shot down over Erbil International Airport on Wednesday evening, Erbil-based Kurdish counterterrorism forces reported. A pro-Iran militia claimed responsibility for the attack.
“At 20:58 pm, an explosive-laden drone launched by illegal militias targeting the military base of the international coalition against the Islamic State [ISIS] at Erbil International Airport was shot down,” said the Directorate General of Counter Terrorism (CTD), also known as Kurdistan CT.
No casualties or material damages were reported.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a network of shadow Iraqi militia groups backed by Iran and affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement published on its Telegram channel.
Iran-aligned militias have struck bases of the coalition in Iraq and Syria with rockets and drones over 100 times since mid-October, in retaliation to Washington’s support for Israel in its war against the Gaza Strip.
US forces have responded with several retaliatory strikes, targeting militia groups they blame for the attacks. The Iraqi government has strongly condemned American retaliatory attacks, which have killed at least 11, calling them a “violation” of its sovereignty as it targets state security forces.
A military base housing international troops near Erbil’s airport on the northwestern edge of the city and Harir airbase some 50 kilometers to the northeast are frequent targets.
The Iraqi government has also come under increasing pressure by pro-Iran political parties and militias to expel coalition forces from the country, after an American drone strike last week targeted the Popular Mobilization Forces’ (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi) Harakat al-Nujaba in Baghdad, killing two, including Mushtaq Talib al-Saeedi, better known as Abu Taqwa. He was the former commander of al-Nujaba and the deputy commander of the PMF’s Baghdad Belt Operations.
A day after the deadly strike, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani said his government is working to establish a committee to expel the international coalition from the country.
Around 2,500 American troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria are leading an international coalition through Operation Inherent Resolve that has assisted Kurdish, Iraqi, and local Syrian forces in the fight against ISIS, which once held swathes of land in Iraq and Syria but was declared territorially defeated in 2017 and 2019 respectively.
In a meeting with coalition commander Major General Joel B. Vowell on Tuesday, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani stressed the importance of the coalition continuing to pursue its mission in the country.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has said it holds the federal government responsible for the “cowardly attacks” conducted by government-linked “outlaw” groups.
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