Iraqi Kurdistan region under drone fire as oil export dispute deepens with Baghdad

Drones and missiles struck several locations in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region on Sunday morning, wounding civilians in the regional capital Erbil and forcing the shutdown of a major refinery, as Baghdad renewed calls for autonomous Kurdish authorities to resume oil exports via Turkey.

In Erbil an intercepted drone crashed into a home and injured at least four people. Some Kurdish media reported up to 13 wounded.

Two explosions happened in Erbil around 1 a.m. local time on Sunday (2200 GMT Saturday). Security sources said air defence systems intercepted two drones that were heading toward the city.

Officials said one intercepted drone landed on a house in Erbil’s Karezan neighbourhood, sparking a fire and injuring four people.

Ashab al-Kahf, an Iraqi armed group aligned with Iran, claimed responsibility, saying it targeted US interests. The group, part of the Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq, has previously claimed similar attacks in the region.

People living in Sulaimaniyah said they heard two loud explosions after midnight. The Kurdistan Region’s Asayish security agency explained that the blasts happened when two drones were intercepted over the Peshmerga’s Second Regional Guard Command. The falling debris did not cause any injuries or damage.

At about the same time, the Koya Sinjaq area of Erbil province was also attacked. A local source said three missiles were fired at the area, but no other details were available.

In a separate incident, a drone strike caused a fire at Erbil’s privately run Lanaz refinery. Firefighters worked to put out the blaze, and the facility stopped production as a safety measure while they checked for damage.

The Lanaz refinery can process about 40,000 barrels a day and makes diesel, fuel oil, and naphtha for the local market. It uses crude oil from fields in the Kurdistan Region.

These attacks are part of a series of drone and missile strikes on the Kurdistan Region that have happened since the US and Israel launched a war on Iran on 28 February.

Dispute over oil exports

Meanwhile, Iraq’s oil ministry urged the Kurdistan Regional Government to swiftly restart crude exports through the northern pipeline to Turkey’s Ceyhan port to help offset losses from the suspension of exports via the Strait of Hormuz.

The ministry said it had repeatedly told the Kurdistan Region’s natural resources ministry that Baghdad is ready to resume exports of up to 300,000 barrels per day via the pipeline to Ceyhan. This would be in addition to at least 200,000 barrels per day previously exported from Kurdish fields before the current crisis.

The pipeline has a total export capacity of about 900,000 barrels per day, according to the ministry.

However, the Kurdistan Region’s natural resources ministry has refused to restart exports, proposing conditions Baghdad described as “unrelated to the crude oil export process.”

Iraq’s oil ministry said any outstanding issues could be resolved in parallel with restarting shipments, warning that further delays would cost the country crucial revenues.