Drones strike Iranian Kurdish camp near Erbil
The strike came nine days after the United States completed its troop withdrawal from Iraq through Erbil Air Base.
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Drones struck a camp belonging to the Organization of Struggle of Iranian Kurdistan, known as Habat, in the village of Topzawa west of Erbil on Thursday night, according to Mezha and The New Region. The Kurdistan Region's Counter-Terrorism Directorate said the attack happened at around 10:19 p.m. and set the camp on fire. No injuries were reported.
A separate drone explosion was reported the same evening in the Rizgari area of Khabat district in Erbil province, Voice of Emirates reported, citing a security source. The source said the extent of casualties and damage was unclear, and it was not confirmed whether the drone hit its target or was intercepted.
Erbil has seen a similar incident recently. On September 20, an explosion was reported near Erbil International Airport, which coalition forces said came from military training and security activities and posed no danger, Türkiye Today reported, citing AFP. The presence of US-led coalition troops in Iraq has long been a point of friction with Tehran-backed armed factions, which have targeted coalition forces for years, with such attacks intensifying during a Middle East war that began in February 2026, according to Türkiye Today.
The coalition completed its withdrawal from Iraq by September 30, having wound down its mission against the Islamic State, with its remaining presence concentrated at Erbil airport. Thursday's strikes come just over a week after that departure, cutting against the recent view that the coalition's exit had removed a flashpoint for proxy activity in the region. The timing raises questions about security conditions in the Kurdish region as Washington's military presence there ends, though nothing so far specifies who carried out the strikes or why. Iraq's oil export infrastructure, which has held near 2.6 to 2.65 million barrels per day through September with routing diversified via Ceyhan and plans for truck shipments through Syria and Turkey, remains the backdrop against which any disruption in the area would need to be measured.