Drone shot down near Iraqi airbase

No damage or casualties reported

The Ain Al Assad air base hosting US forces in Iraq in the western Anbar province, Iraq. AFP

A drone has been intercepted and shot down by defence systems while hovering near Iraq's Ain Al Asad airbase, Iraqi security sources said.

The base, known for hosting American troops, was the target of a series of drone and rocket attacks last year.

It is not clear whether the drone was on a surveillance mission or was carrying explosives, the sources said on Thursday night.

No damage or casualties were reported and Iraqi officials were not immediately available for comment.

Less than 24 hours before the airbase incident, three rockets landed near an oil refinery in Iraq's Kurdistan region, where no casualties or material damage were reported.

The rockets fell near the Kawergosk refinery, about 20 kilometres north-west of regional capital Erbil, Kurdish counter-terrorism forces said.

No one claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack.

The rockets were launched from Khazir area in Mosul, the forces said.

Sources in the Kurdistan Regional Government told Reuters that the refinery is owned by Iraqi Kurdish businessman Baz Karim Barzanji, the chief executive of a major domestic energy company called KAR Group, whose home was hit in the Iranian ballistic missile attack last month.