US-led Coalition Shot Down Unidentified Drone Over Iraqi Kurdistan Region (Photos)
The Counter-Rocket, Artillery, Missile gun fires flares during a weapons test at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, Jan. 31, 2010. Taken on 31 January 2010 by Senior Airman Brittany Bateman, U.S. Air Force.
The US-led coalition has intercepted and shot down an unidentified drone that penetrated the airspace of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.
Speaking to a number of Iraqi outlets, a source in the coalition said that the drone was one of several that entered Iraq’s airspace from the eastern direction -meaning the border with Iran- early on February 13.
The source said that the unidentified drones were all tracked by Iraqi air defenses. Yet, only one was shot down. The wreckage of the drone was recovered.
“The attacks against Iraqi facilities and the Iraqi people will not be tolerated, and the coalition will not hesitate to defend itself and partner forces against any threat,” the source was quoted as saying by the Safaq News.
The downed drone appears to be similar in design to the Iran’s Shahed-136. While the Shahed-136 is a suicide drone, the one shot down over the Kurdistan Region was likely on a surveillance mission. The drone was equipped with a parachute for landing. Moreover, it didn’t explode when it was hit by air defense fire which means that it was not carrying a warhead or any munitions.
التحالف يسقط طائرة مسيرة في حدود #اربيل pic.twitter.com/Oz5nKjG1g8
— Othman Alshalash (@OAlshalash) February 13, 2022
#التحالف_الدولي في اربيل
احباط هجوم بطائرة مسيرة كانت تستطلع قاعدة الحرير في #اربيل . pic.twitter.com/xeyRJRtJ57— Azhar Al-Jumaili (@AzharJumaili) February 13, 2022
Pro-Iranian forces attacked bases hosting US-led coalition troops in the Kurdistan Region and other parts of Iraq on several occasions in the past two years.
All recent attacks on the US-led coalition in Iraq were meant as a response to the assassination of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Deputy-Commander of the Popular Mobilization Units, and Iran’s Quds Force Commander, Maj. Gen. Qassim Soleimani.
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