Drones targeting Kurdistan Region were launched from Kirkuk: KRG official
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Explosive-laden drones that targeted the Kurdistan Region last week were launched from Kirkuk province, a Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) official said on Saturday.
'The suicide drones that targeted oil fields in the Kurdistan Region last week flew from Dibis, Kirkuk,' Aziz Ahmad, deputy chief of staff to Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, said in a post on X.
In the month of July, there have been at least 18 drone attacks on locations in the Kurdistan Region. In the past week, the attacks primarily targeted oil fields.
Ahmad said on Wednesday that the Kurdistan Region has lost nearly 200,000 barrels of oil production due to the 'spate of drone attacks by criminal militias on the Iraqi government payroll.'
The KRG has blamed the attacks on Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a charge Baghdad has denied.
On Monday, the Iraqi parliament will convene to discuss the 'terrorist attacks with explosive drones on infrastructure in the Kurdistan Region,' according to the agenda.
The Kurdistan Region's Presidency, Council of Ministers, and Ministry of Natural Resources have all strongly condemned the attacks, describing them as attempts to cripple the Region's vital oil infrastructure. They called on the federal government to hold the perpetrators to account.
No group has claimed responsibility.
There have been no new attacks since Erbil and Baghdad reached a new agreement on finances and oil exports on Thursday.
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