BAGHDAD: A drone loaded with explosives struck an oil field in Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region on Thursday, Kurdish forces said — the second attack in two days on the Norwegian-operated site.
“At 10:55 am (0755 GMT) a new attack by an explosives-laden drone hit” the DNO-operated Tawke field in Zakho disrict, Kurdistan’s counterterrorism services said.
No casualties or damage were reported.
Similar attacks on Wednesday forced the Norwegian firm to suspend operations at the Tawke and Peshkabir oil fields.
Another two attacks targeted an oil field operated by the US firm Hunt Oil in Duhok province.
In the past few weeks, Kurdistan has seen a spate of unclaimed drone attacks, which have come as the regional government and the federal authorities in Baghdad wrangle over control of export revenues from the Kurdistan fields.
Several oil fields in the region have been hit in the space of a week.
The Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR) — which represents international oil firms in the region, including DNO, and Hunt — condemned the attacks Wednesday.
It added that the majority of its members have suspended production “totalling over 200,000 barrels per day.”
Long plagued by conflict, Iraq frequently experiences such attacks, often linked to regional proxy struggles between Iran and the United States and its ally Israel.
There has been no claim of responsibility for any of the past week’s attacks, and Baghdad has promised an investigation to identify the culprits.
But a Kurdish official, who requested anonymity, blamed the recent attacks on the Popular Mobilization Forces — Hashed Al-Shaabi in Arabic — a coalition of pro-Iran former paramilitaries now integrated into the regular armed forces.
“We hold the Iraqi government responsible because they are funding the PMF, which is attacking the oil infrastructure,” he told AFP Wednesday.
Drone hits oil field in Iraq’s Kurdistan for second day
https://arab.news/8krs9
Drone hits oil field in Iraq’s Kurdistan for second day
Sudan slams Uganda for hosting RSF chief
- Sudan’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday criticized the meeting, saying the RSF’s atrocities had been “documented by the international community and condemned by regional organizations of which Uganda is a member”
KHARTOUM: Sudan’s government on Sunday criticized Kampala for hosting rival paramilitary chief Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, slamming the reception he received from Uganda’s president as an “affront to humanity.”
Since April 2023, the Sudanese military, led by army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, has been at war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Gen. Al-Burhan’s former deputy, commonly known as Hemeti.
Dagalo on Friday met with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni at Entebbe’s State House, a day after a United Nations probe found his forces had committed acts of genocide in Darfur.
Sudan’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday criticized the meeting, saying the RSF’s atrocities had been “documented by the international community and condemned by regional organizations of which Uganda is a member,” including the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, or IGAD.
Dagalo, speaking during his visit, said he travelled to Uganda after President Museveni was approached by the Sudanese army seeking his mediation.
His visit came a week after Museveni hosted Malik Agar, Burhan’s deputy, in his ruling Transitional Sovereignty Council.
Addressing supporters on Friday, Dagalo called for Africa-led mediation.
“From the first day of the war, we said negotiations must be African. Peace should be made in Africa: IGAD and the African Union,” he told the gathering.
Friday’s meeting was the RSF commander’s second with Museveni.
His first in December 2023 occurred during a regional tour, when analysts said Hemeti sought to bolster his legitimacy with African leaders.
He has since declared a rival administration in Darfur, which has received no international recognition.
