Drone attacks on oil fields in Iraq’s Kurdish region shut down another facility

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which have exacerbated tensions between the central government in Baghdad and Kurdish authorities.DNO ASA, the Norwegian oil and gas company operating the field, said its operations were “temporarily suspended following three explosions early this morning, one involving a small storage tank at Tawke and the other involving surface processing equipment at Peshkabir.”

It said there were no injuries and a damage assessment was underway.

The attack came a day after another oil field in Iraq ’s Dohuk province operated by a US company was set ablaze, also after being struck by a drone.

The Kurdish region’s Ministry of Natural Resources said the attacks were meant “to disrupt the economy of the Kurdistan Region and threaten theThe attack came a day after another oil field in Iraq ’s Dohuk province operated by a US company was set ablaze, also after being struck by a drone.

The Kurdish region’s Ministry of Natural Resources said the attacks were meant “to disrupt the economy of the Kurdistan Region and threaten the safety of civilian employees of the energy sector,” and called for federal authorities to intervene to stop them.

Earlier this month, the Kurdish regional government accused the Popular Mobilization Forces — a coalition of Iran-allied militias that are officially under the control of the Iraqi military — of carrying out drone attacksThe Iraqi army said the accusation was “issued in the absence of evidence” and said it could “provide hostile parties with justifications to undermine Iraq’s stability.”

Iran-backed armed groups have periodically attacked US bases in Iraq and Syria. During last month’s Israel-Iran war, some of them threatened to target US interests and bases in the region if Washington got involved