Screen grab from a live stream by the Rudaw Media Network.
Early on June 26, a drone swarm attacked a number of targets near Erbil city, the capital of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.
Citing security sources in Kurdistan, the Rudaw Media Network reported that three drones carrying TNT explosives attacked the village of Bragh, which is located three kilometers away from the US Consulate in Erbil.
Two of the drones struck a building, allegedly a villa, on Erbil-Pirmam road, while the third crashed without exploding. No human losses were reported. Iraqi sources alleged that Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani is a frequent visitor of the area. These claims are yet to be verified.
🔴 Three explosive-laden drones were launched towards NE of #Erbil in the middle of the night, two of the drones hit a house on Erbil-Pirmam road, 3 km away from new #US Consulate General compound which is currently under construction. Other did not explode. (Rudaw) #Kurdistan pic.twitter.com/xS4wE9iK5K
— ʀᴀᴠᴇᴇɴ ᴀᴜᴊᴍᴀʏᴀ (@raveenaujmaya) June 26, 2021
🔴 #Sondakika
Erbil’in Prag köyünde patlama:
Patlamanın sebebi ise düşen bir kamikaze drone’u.
Büyük ihtimal saldırı O bölgeye yakın inşa edilen ABD’nin en büyük askeri ve istihbarat üssüne olmuş olabilir. Drone Prag köyünde bir eve düştü. pic.twitter.com/a6o53Bn2sg— Rasan Remzi (@RasanRemzi) June 26, 2021
Explosive-laden UAV targeted an empty house in Erbil last night. The house is close to the new US Consulate compound.#Kurdistan pic.twitter.com/z2YZa8Wmb7 https://t.co/mhdiuvc3e3
— Baxtiyar Goran ☀️ (@BaxtiyarGoran) June 26, 2021
At the same time, two other drones attacked the village of Gomaspan, according to a senior source in the Kurdistan Region Government.
“The United States condemns Saturday’s drone attack in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. This attack represents a clear violation of Iraqi sovereignty,” the US Consulate in Erbil said in a statement.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, activists in Kurdistan accused pro-Iranian forces of launching the drones. Local authorities are yet to make an official accusation.
This was not the first such attack on the Kurdistan Region. On April 14, a US military facility located inside Erbil International Airport was targeted with a suicide drone. Back then, pro-Iranian forces were blamed for the attack.
