Explosion heard near Iraq’s Erbil airport
Iraq has been drawn into the broader Middle East war that began with the US-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28.
While pro-Iran armed groups claimed responsibility for attacks against US interests in Iraq and the region, the attacks also targeted these groups.
Erbil is home to a large US consulate complex, while its airport houses military advisors affiliated with the US-led anti-jihadist coalition.
Regular drone attacks by pro-Iranian armed groups are often thwarted by air defense systems.
Another AFP correspondent said debris from the captured attack had fallen on cars and houses near the airport, causing some damage, and reported smoke rising over the city.
The regional power stated that a base hosting the regional armed forces of Iraqi Kurdistan in the northern Sulaymaniyah province was also targeted with a missile and rocket attack throughout the night, and that there was no loss of life. A drone crashed into an oil field in southern Iraq, but no explosions or injuries were reported, security officials said.
Many oil operations in Iraq have been halted since the start of the war.
The former paramilitary Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which is part of the regular army but also includes some pro-Iran groups, said its positions were targeted overnight.
He stated that there were no casualties following the three US-Israeli attacks targeting its forces in Jurf al-Sakher.
The base is also known as Jurf al-Nasr and is one of the strongholds of the pro-Iranian US-blacklisted Kataeb Hezbollah group.
