ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – A drone was intercepted near Baghdad’s Green Zone on Tuesday, said Saad Maan, the head of Iraq’s Security Media Cell, adding that investigations have begun to identify its source.

“An unidentified drone was detonated in Baghdad’s skies, and investigations have begun to establish details about the drone and its source,” Maan told The New Region.

The intercepted drones were in the vicinity of Baghdad’s Green Zone, the administrative nerve of the Iraqi government, housing the Prime Minister’s Office, the Iraqi parliament, diplomatic missions, including the US Embassy, as well as the headquarters of many political parties.

The New Region’s Baghdad correspondents said that the drone came from the south of the country, were unarmed, and solely used for reconnaissance purposes.

One correspondent, citing Iraq’s Security Media Cell, said that it was intercepted by the US embassy’s air defense system.

Iraq and the Kurdistan Region have been targeted hundreds of times by drones and missiles since the breakout of the US-Iran war, which started in late February.

Some of the attacks have been claimed by pro-Iran militias under the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), an umbrella network of Iran-aligned Iraqi Shiite militias linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

In early August, Iraqi counterterrorism forces dismantled a network and seized drones in its possession that were allegedly set to be used to “carry out attacks with specific targets,” the government said.