Military expert says Khor Mor strike originated from Turkmen PMF area

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The drone attack on Khor Mor gas field was launched from an area that is under the control of Iraqi forces, including Turkmen units of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a military expert said on Saturday.

“I have gone myself to that area before… Those places all have Turkmen PMF forces. Protecting the security of that area is in their hands,” Abdulkhaliq Talaat, a former Kurdistan Regional Government representative to the Iraqi military’s Joint Operations Command (JOC), told Rudaw.

A drone hit a storage tank at Khor Mor late Wednesday night, sparking a fire that burned for hours and triggering power outages across the Kurdistan Region. No group has claimed responsibility. Kurdish officials described it as a terrorist attack.

Talaat said the strike originated from a zone between Amerli and Sulayman Beg, southwest of the gas field, an area he described as fully controlled by the PMF and the Iraqi Army.

Khor Mor, located in the Chamchamal district of Sulaimani province, is operated by Pearl Petroleum, a consortium led by Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum. Amerli is located roughly 50 kilometers to the southwest and Sulayman Beg is about 42 kilometers in the same direction.

“The place is controlled from every aspect from the Iraqi side. It is not in a security vacuum,” Talaat said.

He added the projectile used was a short-range weapon and the target location had been selected in advance, explaining that it would not be easy for actors outside the area’s security structure to carry out an attack without detection.

Such an operation would require “an organized military force,” he said.

Iraqi Interior Minister Abdul Amir al-Shammari, Iraqi National Intelligence Service chief Hamid al-Shatri, and Kurdistan Region Interior Minister Rebar Ahmed visited Khor Mor on Friday to assess the damage. The results of their investigation are expected within 72 hours, spokesperson for the commander-in-chief of the armed forces Sabah al-Numan told Rudaw on Friday.

Khor Mor has been repeatedly targeted in recent years in attacks Kurdish authorities blame on Iran-backed Iraqi militias that operate outside Baghdad’s control.

Talaat said that despite the previous attacks, “no procedures have been taken until this moment with anyone.”

“Most times, those groups are above the existing authority that does not have the ability to take procedures against people,” he said.

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