Iraq investigates drone attacks on military radars and Kurdish oilfields

Baghdad said foreign-made drones were used last month

Oil storage tanks in a field in the Sarsang district of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish Region after drone attacks. AP

Iraq said on Friday that it was investigating a series of attacks on Kurdish oilfields, while a separate search determined that drone strikes against military radar systems last month were launched from within its borders.

Oilfields, military bases, airports and a camp for internally displaced people in the Kurdish Region of Iraq have been targets of a spate of drone attacks this month. The attacks cut production from several foreign-owned oilfields.

Iraqi security forces announced an operation in the western Nineveh and Salah Al Din provinces to find the saboteurs.

“The recent attacks on oil installations and fields, along with attempts to target military bases and camps, are considered sinful and dangerous acts that undermine all efforts towards Iraq’s stability, reconstruction, and development campaigns,” Iraq's Security Media Cell said in a post on X.

The operation is being carried out by several units and groups, including the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF).

No group has claimed responsibility but the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has blamed the attacks on the PMF, an umbrella of Iran-backed groups. The Iraqi government has denied the accusation against “an official Iraqi security institution”.

The former paramilitary groups are now integrated into Iraq's armed forces.

The US embassy in Iraq condemned the attacks, urging the Iraqi government to “investigate who is behind these attacks and hold them accountable”. It said in a statement that Baghdad “must exercise its authority to prevent armed actors from launching these attacks against sites within its own territory, including locations where Iraqi and international companies have invested in Iraq's future”.

The latest series of drone attacks come amid heightened tension between Baghdad and Erbil over resuming oil exports, halted since 2023 over legal disputes, technical issues and Kurdistan's share in the federal budget.

The last attack was on Thursday morning, hours before the Iraqi cabinet approved a long-anticipated agreement with the KRG that could reset their strained relationship over oil exports and public sector salaries.

Erbil's airport has been hit by rockets and drone attacks over the years. Iraq has been a battleground for such attacks, often linked to regional proxy struggles.

Last month, drones struck military radar systems in Iraq in the backdrop of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran.

On June 24, the Iraqi government said that several small suicide drones targeted Iraqi military sites and bases, including the radar systems at Camp Taji, north of Baghdad, and Imam Ali Base in Dhi Qar Province in southern Iraq.

Sabah Al Numan, the military spokesman for the prime minister, said Iraq identified “the origin of the drones used in the attacks,” adding that they were “equipped with warheads of varying weights and were manufactured outside Iraq.”

The drones were also launched from several locations inside Iraq. They were all of the same type, which indicates “a single executing party,” he said, adding that the government had identified “the entities” involved in the attacks.