Five drones shot down in Erbil after nine members of Iranian Kurdish opposition party killed

Published 18 July 2026, 08:33 GMT

Last updated one hour ago

Reading time: 3 minutes

The Counter-Terrorism Directorate of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq announced on Saturday that 5 explosive drones were downed in Erbil province.

In a statement carried by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), the directorate said, "Coalition forces shot down five drones in Erbil between 21:58 to 22:06," confirming "no casualties."

Iraqi President Nizar Amedi condemned on Saturday the targeting of Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, stressing "Iraq's refusal to be an arena for conflicts or a field for settling regional scores."

Amedi said in a post on X: "We condemn the attacks that targeted Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, and affirm that any targeting of Iraqi territory, under any pretext, is an unacceptable violation of Iraq's sovereignty and threatens the security of its citizens and stability."

He added that "Iraq refuses to be an arena for conflicts or a field for settling regional scores, and reaffirms its commitment to relations based on mutual respect and good neighborliness, preserving the sovereignty of states and sparing the peoples of the region further escalation and instability."

This comes after nine members of an Iranian Kurdish opposition party were killed in a bombardment on Friday on their camp in the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq, according to the party's statement to AFP, holding Iran responsible.

Idris Kuhlwazi, a leader of the opposition Iranian Komala party (Kurdistan Toilers), said that Iranian forces shelled the camp near Sulaymaniyah, the second largest city in Iraqi Kurdistan, with rockets and drones at 4:30 a.m. local time.

In Erbil, the Counter-Terrorism Directorate of the Kurdish forces announced that coalition forces shot down eight explosive drones at dawn on Friday over the city, which houses a major U.S. consulate complex.

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Later, a Kurdish security official told AFP that another five drones were intercepted.

Erbil International Airport Director General Ahmed Hoshiar said on Friday evening that flights at Erbil airport continue as usual, noting in a statement to BasNews that 'there is no change in scheduled flights so far.'

Since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war with Iran on February 28 last, Iran has repeatedly targeted positions of Iranian Kurdish groups in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, while intensifying diplomatic pressure on both Baghdad and Iraqi Kurdistan to limit the groups' activities.

Tehran called on Iraq to fully implement the 2023 security agreement, under which Baghdad committed to tightening border security and restricting operations of Iranian Kurdish armed groups. Iranian officials have repeatedly argued that the agreement has not been fully implemented, using this claim to justify continued cross-border military pressure.

Image caption, An oil depot on the outskirts of Erbil, capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, following a suspected drone strike on April 1, 2026

The Iranian government's concerns increased a week into the war, when six Iranian Kurdish opposition groups based in Iraq announced the formation of a new umbrella organization, the Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan, aimed at coordinating their political and field activities against the Islamic Republic.

The coalition initially included the Iranian Kurdistan Democratic Party, the Kurdistan Free Life Party, the Kurdistan Freedom Party, the Iranian Kurdistan Struggle Organization (Khabat), and the Komala Kurdistan Toilers Party, later joined by the Iranian Kurdistan Komala Party.

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Early in the conflict, US President Donald Trump suggested the possibility of involving Iranian Kurdish groups based in Iraq in ground operations against the Iranian regime.

Trump told Reuters in early March: 'I think it's great that they want to do that, and I fully support it.'

But the plan was not implemented, as Komala party leader Abdullah Muhtadi said in an interview later that month: 'We will not send our forces to the slaughter.'

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