ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Kurdistan Region’s Counter-Terrorism Directorate on Monday said that a loud boom that was heard near Erbil International Airport was merely noise caused by military training activities and not a cause for concern.

Following a boom near Erbil’s airport, succeeded by images and footage on social media of smoke billowing near the airport, the Kurdistan Region’s counter-terrorism forces reassured in a statement posted to Facebook that the blast sound was "a military exercise and training and security activity," adding that the incident is "no cause for concern."

A spate of drone attacks began targeting the Kurdistan Region’s economic and military infrastructure after Israel and Iran announced a ceasefire following their 12-day conflict. A wave that saw the Kurdistan Region’s oil infrastructure targeted by 14 drones between July 14 and 18, according to Iraq’s second Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Shakhawan Abdullah.

“We have the names of those who carried out the drone attacks... This was discussed during our meetings in Geneva,” Abdullah told a press conference before a parliamentary session on Saturday, shortly after concluding a Geneva meeting of global parliamentary presidencies in the days prior.

Iraq’s National Security Adviser Qasim al-Araji arrived in Erbil in late July with a high-level security delegation as part of an investigation into the drone attacks; according to Abdullah, however, the Iraqi government knows the responsible parties. Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani also said that they know who is responsible for the attacks in an interview with Asharq in late July.

Abdul Khaliq Talat, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s representative in the Joint Operations Command, said in an interview with The New Region in July that armed groups carried out more than 20 drone attacks recently.

“The federal government is now fully aware of the attacks,” Talat said. “The investigation this time is serious, and we expect results.”