Drone strike halts electricity in Kurdistan

Shafaq News – Al-Sulaymaniyah (Updated at 02:05)

Iraq’s Kurdistan Region lost up to 80 percent of its electricity supply on Wednesday after a drone strike on the Khor Mor gas field cut off gas feed to power stations, the Kurdish Electricity Ministry said.

In a statement, ministry spokesperson Omed Ahmed confirmed that the attack on the field “caused the complete halt of gas supplies to generating stations,” triggering outages across Erbil, Al-Sulaymaniyah, and Duhok.

Shafaq News correspondents further reported that power cuts were spreading gradually through residential areas.

Later, the Joint Operations Command, the military body that coordinates the country's armed forces, condemned the attack as a “terrorist act” targeting Iraq’s economic security. The strike, it warned, would further strain the electricity system in Erbil and Al-Sulaymaniyah, and damage the country’s energy resources.

A local source told Shafaq News earlier that the strike hit the field at 11:30 pm, causing significant material damage. No casualties were reported.

The attack followed an incident three days earlier when unidentified drones approached the field’s perimeter, triggering an internal alert, according to another source. Khor Mor was last attacked by a drone on February 2, 2025, also without casualties.

The field, one of the Region’s largest, stretches 33 kilometers by 4 kilometers in the Qadir Karam area. As of 2022, it contains 9.2 trillion cubic feet of proven reserves and produces 452 million cubic meters of natural gas per day, along with 22,000 barrels of condensate and 1,050 tons of LPG.

Read more: Iraq's gas flaring paradox: a wealth of resources, a nation in need