ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - A series of renewed drone attacks in the Kurdistan Region’s Erbil and Sulaimani were intercepted in the early hours of Monday, with no casualties or damage reported.

At around 05:00 AM, four powerful explosions were heard near Erbil International Airport, The New Region’s correspondent said, adding, all of the attacks were intercepted by coalition defense systems, especially the C-RAM.

The Kurdistan Region has come under daily attacks, allegedly by pro-Iran Iraqi militias, since the US and Israel launched war against Iran. The attacks were particularly heavy on Saturday and Sunday, when debris from one downed drone killed a young airport security personnel in Erbil and injured three others.

Late Sunday, another drone was also downed in Sulaimani, with gunfire reportedly being heard at the headquarters of the Peshmerga’s Unit 70 Command, affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). Another strike was thwarted hours later.

Sulaimani does not have an air defense system. The Unit 70 forces have been attempting to shoot down the drones using machine guns on pick up trucks, with footage showing tracer bullets filling the night sky.

On Saturday, a barrage of drones targeted different parts of Sulaimani, including the PUK Peshmerga base, a hotel, and the Turkish consulate.

President Masoud Barzani on Sunday condemned as a “war crime” the repeated drone and rocket strikes by armed groups on the Kurdistan Region, warning that the Region’s patience has limits and calling for an end to the “warmongering” and attacks against stability. 

Attacks on the Kurdistan Region have mainly targeted the US Consulate General in Erbil, US military bases, and bases of exiled Kurdish opposition groups from western Iran (Rojhelat), although hotels and Peshmerga bases have also been targeted in recent days.