Missiles and drones shot down over northern Iraq

The counterterrorism unit in Iraq’s semi-autonomous northern Kurdish-run region says that U.S.-led coalition forces had “intercepted and shot down a number of missiles and bomb-laden drones in Irbil province.”

There were no casualties or damage reported from the attacks or their interception, but Irbil saw widespread power outages after a key gas field that supplies much of the region’s electricity stopped operations.

The Kurdish regional government’s ministries of natural resources and electricity says that Dana Gas, which operates the Khor Mor field, had halted operations “due to the extraordinary circumstances and the ongoing events in the region and in order to protect the lives of employees.”

The field has in the past periodically been targeted by drone strikes. The halting of production there will decrease electricity production capacity in the region by between 2,500 and 3,000 megawatts, the ministries said.  — AP