Three armed drones shot down over US base in northern Iraq

The counter-terrorism service said in a statement the drones were intercepted and shot down at around 5:05 a.m. local time.

US soldier guarding US army base in Iraq.   (photo credit: REUTERS/ZOHRA BENSEMRA)
US soldier guarding US army base in Iraq.
(photo credit: REUTERS/ZOHRA BENSEMRA)

Three armed drones were shot down on Tuesday over Erbil airport in northern Iraq, where US and other international forces are stationed, Iraqi Kurdistan's counter-terrorism service said.

A statement from the service did not say if there were any casualties or damage to infrastructure as a result of the attack.

Comes after IRGC's attack in Erbil

Tuesday's attack came hours after Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked a purported "spy headquarters" of Israel's Mossad foreign intelligence service in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

 ISLAMIC REVOLUTIONARY Guard Corps Commander-in-Cheif Major General Hossein Salami speaks at an anti-Israel protest in Tehran on Saturday. The IRGC trained Hezbollah to use human shields, say the writers. (credit: WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY/REUTERS)
ISLAMIC REVOLUTIONARY Guard Corps Commander-in-Cheif Major General Hossein Salami speaks at an anti-Israel protest in Tehran on Saturday. The IRGC trained Hezbollah to use human shields, say the writers. (credit: WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY/REUTERS)

The counter-terrorism service said in a statement the drones were intercepted and shot down at around 5:05 a.m. local time.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. A group called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-aligned Iraqi militias, have claimed responsibility for similar previous attacks.

US and international forces based in Iraq and across the border in Syria have been on high alert amid dozens of attacks, mostly claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, over Washington's backing of Israel in its war in Gaza against the Iran-backed Hamas terrorist organization.