Drone, IED Attacks Hit Northern Iraq, US Denies Casualties

US base in Irbil appears to be target

An Iraqi group calling itself the “Axis of Resistance” carried out attacks in northern Iraq, sending a drone at the US base in the Irbil airport, with subsequent attacks hitting electricity infrastructure in Kirkuk Province.

The drone caused a fire, according to Kurdish officials, but US officials denied that it had done any damage or caused any casualties. The group that claimed the attack mocked the US for not admitting its losses.

Beyond this, several electricity pylons were confirmed downed in Kirkuk by IEDs. A single village reportedly lost power, though officials say work is ongoing to fix it.

An unconfirmed report also claimed to have hit a hotel near Salah al-Din, targeting a safehouse used by Israeli Mossad. The attack was claimed by a group supposedly involved in the attacks, but there have been no comments from US, Iraqi, or Israeli officials.

Recent US attacks in Iraq and Syria targeted an Iraqi militia, supposedly as a deterrent. Several groups have threatened retaliation, and this was presumably part of that.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.