ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - A Turkish unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was shot down in Kirkuk on Thursday causing material damage, local security forces confirmed.
“We shot down a drone that transgressed Kirkuk’s sky and had come to the region without our prior knowledge,” Kirkuk’s Joint Operations Command announced in a statement.
“According to preliminary information, a propeller of the drone has landed at Kirkuk’s Kornish street,” a local security source told The New Region, adding the UAV body has landed in Tis’een neighborhood.
The source added that security forces have launched a prompt investigation into the incident.
The Iraqi Air Force confirmed that the drone was of Turkish origin and was shot down with the French Pantsir air defense system.
The statement from the Air Force added that they had issued warning shots at first and shot down the drone 25 minutes after the warning.
A New Region reporter covering the incident on the ground said that the shot-down drone had Turkish inscriptions on it.
#TheNewRegion’s reporter in #Kirkuk confirms that the UAV shot down in the city on Thursday had Turkish inscriptions on it pic.twitter.com/9v2ijN87wg
— The New Region (@thenewregion) August 29, 2024
Citing local forces, the reporter detailed that the incident has not caused any human loss of life.
Local security forces have cordoned off the site where the drone has landed, fearing additional explosions.
Updated at 12:54 pm on August 29, 2024 with Iraqi Air Force statement.