A drone strike on Wednesday targeted an Emirati-owned gas complex in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, disrupting the gas supply to the region’s power plants, local authorities said.
“At 11:30 pm (2030 GMT), a drone attacked the Khor Mor gas field facility, cutting off all gas supplies to power plants,” the regional natural resources and electricity authorities said in a statement.
AFP correspondents in Kurdistan reported power cuts across the region, including in the city of Sulaimaniyah.
The Khor Mor gas field lies between the cities of Kirkuk and Sulaimaniyah and supplies most of the Kurdistan region’s power.
Omed Ahmed, the regional electricity authority spokesperson, said the attack resulted in the loss of 2,600 megawatts of electricity, disrupting 80 percent of the region’s power grid.
Authorities said they were coordinating with the United Arab Emirates company Dana Gas to investigate the attack and restore operations.
A local security source told AFP that the attack “targeted gas storage tanks, causing a major explosion and large fire”.
Iraq’s Joint Operations Command, which coordinates between security forces and the military, said the attack, which set fire to a major storage tank, did not cause casualties.
It added that the attack aims at “hindering security and economic stability” in a country that has just recently regained a sense of stability.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Long plagued by conflict, Iraq frequently suffers such attacks.
Unclaimed Katyusha rocket and drone attacks have targeted the Khor Mor complex several times in recent years. In April 2024, four Yemeni workers were killed in a drone attack on the facility.
Earlier this year, the Kurdistan region saw a spate of unclaimed drone attacks mostly against oilfields.
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© Agence France-Presse
