03-07-2025
Explosions heard near Erbil and Kirkuk airports
Shafaq News – Erbil/Kirkuk
On Thursday, two explosions were heard near Erbil International Airport, and a drone crashed in southern Kirkuk, according to a security source.
Preliminary information indicates an unidentified object fell near the airport. It remains unclear whether it was a drone or a missile.
A security source told Shafaq News that the US base at Erbil Airport intercepted and downed two drones west of the city.
The directorate announced in a statement a booby-trapped drone was shot down, without causing any human or material damage.
In a separate incident, a security source in Kirkuk told Shafaq News that a drone crashed on Airport Street near Badr neighborhood in the southern part of the city. Security forces were dispatched to the site to investigate.
Additionally, Spokesperson for Kirkuk International Airport Hardi Al-Salihi confirmed to Shafaq News, 'There have been no attacks on either the civilian or military sections of the airport,' adding that operations are continuing normally without disruption to scheduled flights.
The Head of the Turkmen Parliamentary Bloc, Arshad Al-Salihi, told Shafaq News that the ongoing drone and Katyusha rocket attacks on Kirkuk's civil and military airport signal a serious warning about the scale of the security breach in the city. 'What's even more alarming is that no one knows where these drones are being launched from, nor why they are not being detected despite the presence of radars at the military airport,' he added.
Al-Salihi also called on urgent and transparent investigation by the relevant authorities to identify the sources of the threat and hold those responsible accountable.
Earlier, an unidentified drone carrying two missiles crashed in an open area near the town of Kokez in Diyala.
