A drone strike on a major gas field in northern Iraq has caused a large fire and cut electricity to most of the region. The attack happened on Sunday night at the Khor Mor gas facility in the Kurdish region, leaving more than 70 percent of the area without power.
The explosive drone hit gas storage units, forcing the facility to suspend production. Regional officials said the shutdown knocked between 2,500 and 2,800 megawatts of electricity generation off the grid. As a result, gas supplies stopped flowing to power plants that serve several major cities, including Erbil and Sulaimaniyah.
To keep essential services running, the regional electricity ministry began operating hydroelectric stations and backup plants that use alternative fuels. Officials explained that these backup systems will supply electricity to critical places such as hospitals and water treatment facilities while workers deal with the outage.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said that no casualties were reported in the strike, based on an initial assessment. The government has formed a joint committee to investigate the attack. It remains unclear who launched the drone, and no group has claimed responsibility.