Smoke rises above Erbil in Iraq after an explosion on July 24, 2026. (Credit: AFP)
The U.S.-led coalition shot down five drones Friday over Erbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdistan region, which hosts U.S. forces and has been targeted several times since the resumption of hostilities in the Middle East, Kurdish forces reported.
An AFP journalist previously reported seeing drones flying over Erbil, where air defenses were activated, triggering explosions near the airport, which houses coalition troops.
The city also hosts a major U.S. consular complex.
Since the resumption of hostilities between the United States and Iran in early July, drone attacks, which Kurdish authorities attribute to Iran, have been repeatedly thwarted over Erbil.
According to Kurdish counterterrorism forces, "the coalition shot down five drones carrying explosives" early Friday morning, with no casualties reported.
Since the start of the Middle East war, triggered by the Israeli-American offensive against Iran on Feb. 28, the Kurdistan region has been the target of attacks carried out by Iran and pro-Iranian Iraqi armed groups.
However, these factions have not claimed responsibility for any new attacks in the last two weeks.
The Kurdistan region is home to exiled Iranian Kurdish rebels, who have also been widely targeted by missile and drone strikes, some of them deadly, attributed to Iran.
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