BAGHDAD, July 17 (Xinhua) -- An explosive-laden drone crashed on Thursday near Erbil, the capital city of the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq, as the country has been experiencing frequent drone attacks recently.
The accident occurred at 1:27 a.m. Thursday local time (2227 GMT Wednesday) in the Bahirka area near Erbil city, without causing any casualties, the regional Directorate General of Counter Terrorism said in a brief statement.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attempted drone attack.
The past few days saw an increasing number of drone attacks targeting oil fields run by foreign companies in Iraq.
On Wednesday morning, two drones struck an oil field operated by the Norwegian DNO oil company in the Faysh Khabur area, a third drone hit another DNO-operated oil field in the Tawke area, and a fourth drone hit an oil field run by a U.S. oil company in the Baadre area.
On Wednesday evening, a drone hit an oil field operated by a U.S. firm in the Baadre area for the second time.
On Tuesday morning, a drone hit the Sarsang oil field in Duhok province without causing casualties.
On Monday, an explosive-laden drone was shot down near the Erbil International Airport, while two explosive-laden drones crashed at the Khurmala oil field in Erbil province. ■
