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Three armed drones intercepted and shot down near US base in northern Iraq

FOX News

Senior foreign affairs correspondent Greg Palkot provides details on the major strike on an Iraqi militia leader and the U.S.'s response to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea Three armed drones were shot down in Iraq on Tuesday, near where U.S. and other international forces are stationed, officials said. Iraqi Kurdistan's counter-terrorism service said its forces intercepted and shot down the drones over Erbil airport in northern Iraq at around 5:05 a.m. It did not say if there were any casualties or damage to infrastructure. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Similar previous attacks have been claimed by a group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-aligned Iraqi militias.


Iran announces strikes in northern Iraq, Syria

FOX News

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. Iran announced late Monday that it had launched strikes against a "spy headquarters and the gathering of anti-Iranian terrorist groups" shortly after missiles hit an area near the U.S. consulate in Irbil, the seat of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region. Soon after, a statement from Iran's Revolutionary Guards on state media said it had struck "terrorist operations" including Islamic State targets in Syria "and destroyed them by firing a number of ballistic missiles." Another statement claimed that it had hit a headquarters of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, in the Kurdish region of Iraq.


Armed drone shot down over Erbil airport in northern Iraq, where US forces are stationed

FOX News

Iraqi forces shot down an armed drone on Tuesday over the Erbil airport in northern Iraq, where U.S. and other international forces are stationed, according to a report. The Kurdistan Counter Terrorism, an Iraqi semi-autonomous regional security agency, said an "illegal militia" launched an armed drone against the Erbil airport that was shot down at approximately 09:52 a.m. It is not immediately clear if the foiled attack caused any damage or casualties. U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria have been attacked more than 90 times since the start of the conflict. The Pentagon does not count attacks on U.S. warships at sea in this number.


Turkish attacks kills 7 PKK members in Iraq as delegation visits KRG

Al Jazeera

Turkish drone attacks in northern Iraq have killed seven members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), authorities said, as the country's foreign minister met the president and prime minister of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). "A Turkish army drone struck a PKK vehicle, killing an official and two fighters", the KRG's counterterrorism services said on Thursday. The attack took place in Sidakan district, north of the regional capital Erbil. Later, the counter-terrorism services said that another drone strike in Sidakan had killed four PKK members, including two medical personnel. The PKK has fought a rebellion against Turkey since 1984, and has bases inside KRG territory.


Alleged Turkish drone strike targets Yazidi militant group in Iraq's Sinjar

FOX News

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. An airstrike targeted a militant group in northern Iraq's Yazidi heartland of Sinjar on Tuesday, according to local officials, who attributed the strike to Turkey. Officials gave conflicting reports regarding the number of casualties. The semi-autonomous Kurdish region's counter-terrorism service said in a statement that three fighters were killed in the attack, and one wounded.


Nine dead in Iranian attacks on Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq

Al Jazeera

Iran has attacked an Iranian-Kurdish opposition group in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, killing nine people and injuring several others, Kurdish officials said. The missile and drone attacks on Wednesday focused on bases in Koya, some 60km (35 miles) east of Erbil, said Soran Nuri – a member of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan. The group, known by the acronym KDPI, is a left-wing armed opposition force that is banned in Iran. Iran's state-run IRNA news agency and broadcaster said Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps ground forces targeted some bases of a separatist group in the north of Iraq with "precision missiles" and a "suicide drone". "This operation will continue with our full determination until the threat is effectively repelled, terrorist groups' bases are dismantled, and the authorities of the Kurdish region assume their obligations and responsibilities," the IRGC said in a statement read on state television. Nine people were killed and 24 wounded, according to Kurdistan Regional Government's health minister, Saman Barazanchi.


Iraq fumes against Turkey over deadly drone attack

Al Jazeera

Iraq cancelled a ministerial visit and summoned Turkey's ambassador on Wednesday as it blamed Ankara for a drone attack that killed two high-ranking Iraqi military officers. Iraqi officials called the attack a "blatant Turkish drone attack" in the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, where Turkey's military has for weeks raided positions of fighters it considers "terrorists". Two border guard battalion commanders and the driver of their vehicle were killed on Tuesday, the army said in a statement, marking the first Iraqi troop deaths since Turkey launched the cross-border operation in mid-June against Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels. Iraq's foreign ministry - which already summoned the Turkish envoy twice over the military action on its soil - said the ambassador would this time be given "a letter of protest with strong words" rejecting the offensive. The ministry also confirmed the Turkish defence minister would no longer be welcomed for a planned visit on Thursday.


Iraq army says Turkish drone killed two high-ranking commanders

Al Jazeera

The Iraqi army says two senior security officials have been killed in a "blatant Turkish drone attack" in the country's north, where Ankara has for weeks been raiding positions of fighters it considers "terrorists". The drone targeted a vehicle belonging to the Iraqi border guards in the Bradost area, north of Erbil, the military said in a statement on Tuesday. The strike caused the deaths of the two border guard battalion commanders and the vehicle's driver. There was no immediate statement by Turkey. The deaths announced by the military marked the first time members of the regular Iraqi forces have been killed since Turkey launched a cross-border ground and air operation in mid-June against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the mountainous terrain of northern Iraq.


Jonathan Marcus: Deadly potential of 'off-the-shelf' drones

BBC News

You could call it a demonstration of the proliferation of drone use with frightening possibilities. Last week's attack in northern Iraq in which a small drone exploded killing two Peshmerga fighters and badly wounding two members of the French special forces, marks something of an innovation in modern warfare. The US launched the first armed drone attack back in October 2001. Since then the use of armed drones has been the preserve of the most sophisticated military actors in the world. Israel and the US had the early technological lead with Russia and China rapidly developing their own drone industries.


Why are Canadian troops in Iraq wearing Kurdish flag?

Al Jazeera

Footage of Canadian soldiers sporting Kurdish flags on their uniforms in Iraq has raised questions about Canada's military training mission in the war-torn country. Canadian military personnel are training Kurdish Peshmerga forces in northern Iraq in their fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Footage shot by Canadian news channel CTV in Iraq showed Canadian troops wearing the red, green and white flag of Kurdistan, with a yellow sun at its centre, on one sleeve of their uniforms in late April. A spokesperson for the Department of National Defence told Al Jazeera the Kurdish flag is being used to ensure troop safety. "Our members are wearing the flag of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region to enhance cohesion with partner forces and to ensure easy visual identification, which contributes to force protection," Daniel Lebouthillier said in an email.