US Downs Iranian Drone

The American military’s Central Command announced on Wednesday that it “brought down” an Iranian drone near Erbil, in Iraq’s Kurdish region, as it threatened U.S. personnel in the area.

“At approximately 2:10 PM local time, U.S. forces brought down an Iranian [Qods] Mohajer-6 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle headed in the direction of Erbil as it appeared as a threat to CENTCOM forces in the area,” said the statement from CENTCOM spokesperson Col. Joe Buccino.

The Iranian drone attack targeting the base of an Iranian-Kurdish resistance group in northern Iraq killed at least nine persons and wounded 32 others, according to the Kurdish Regional Government’s Health Ministry.

No U.S. personnel were injured by the Iranian attack, said Buccino.

“U.S. Central Command condemns the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ unprovoked attack in Iraq’s Erbil Governorate this morning,” said the statement.

Iraq’s Foreign Ministry and the Kurdistan Regional Government condemned the attack.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price said: “We strongly condemn Iran’s use of ballistic missiles and drone attacks against the Iraqi Kurdistan Region as an unjustified violation of Iraqi sovereignty and territorial integrity.”