Iran’s Shahed Drone Strikes Hit Kurdish Sites Around Erbil After U.S.-Led Coalition Exit
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has carried out Shahed-136 drone strikes on Iranian-Kurdish groups in Erbil and sent explosive drones crashing near a refugee camp, in the first major test of the Kurdistan Region’s air defenses since U.S.-led coalition forces departed.
Iran is pushing military pressure across its border with Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, launching drone strikes on targets in and around Erbil just days after the U.S.-led coalition pulled out.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) struck positions of Iranian-Kurdish groups in Erbil, the regional capital. Open-source reporting points to the use of Shahed‑136 loitering munitions, with several impacts recorded over the course of Thursday night.
On the same night, two explosive‑laden drones crashed near the Eastern Kurdish Refugee Camp in Kawrgosk, in Erbil province’s Khabat district, at 10:19 p.m. The Kurdistan Region’s Directorate General of Counter Terrorism (CTD) said the camp area was targeted by two drones. Local authorities and a Kurdistan24 correspondent reported no casualties from this incident.
The camp incident underlines the risk for displaced Kurds living close to sites Iran considers hostile. Even without casualties, a strike beside a refugee camp shows how cross‑border attacks can brush against civilians who already fled earlier rounds of conflict.
The latest wave of attacks comes shortly after the U.S.-led coalition withdrew from Erbil around 30 September. New reporting describes tonight’s strikes as the first significant test of Erbil’s air defenses since that departure, when coalition radar and technical support stopped backing local forces.
Iran has a record of hitting Iranian‑Kurdish political and militant groups based in Iraqi Kurdistan, which Tehran accuses of using Iraqi territory to organize against the Iranian state. Those groups, and local Kurdish officials, say they are being targeted for political activity as much as for armed operations.
Shahed‑series drones have become a standard Iranian tool for long‑range strikes. They are relatively cheap, can loiter over targets, and are used both by Iran and by allied groups in other conflicts. In Erbil’s case, they now probe what the region’s own air defenses can handle without coalition backing.
The next signals to watch are how Erbil and Baghdad describe the effectiveness of defensive fire, whether debris from downed drones is shown publicly, and if Iran repeats or intensifies strikes on Iraqi Kurdish territory. Any steps by Kurdish authorities to reinforce protection around refugee camps or move opposition elements farther from the border would suggest they expect a sustained campaign rather than a single night of attacks.
Sources
- OSINT