Iraq
Members of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi) participate in a military display in Baghdad on February 24, 2024. Photo: Iraqi defense ministry
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Kurdish lawmaker in the Iraqi parliament on Monday said the Iraqi government lacks control over armed groups behind recent drone attacks on the Kurdistan Region, accusing “external agendas” of fueling tensions between Erbil and Baghdad.
Nearly 20 drone attacks have targeted the Kurdistan Region since the beginning of July, mainly hitting oil fields and causing significant financial losses. Kurdish officials have blamed the attacks on “criminal militias” affiliated with the Iraqi government.
“We see that very often Iraq and the Kurdistan Region become victims of those militias that are outside authority. I can say that the Iraqi government cannot control those armed groups,” Srwa Mohammed, a Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) lawmaker in the Iraqi parliament, told Rudaw.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has blamed Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi) for the drone attacks, a charge Baghdad has denied.
“Despite having general authority, and the prime minister being the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, there are still militias that operate outside the law and do not follow official authority,” Mohammed added.
The Iraqi parliament is convening on Monday in an extraordinary session to discuss the drone strikes, which have targeted key oil infrastructure.
Although a parliamentary committee was formed to investigate the attacks, Mohammed said “no report has reached parliament so far” and that the legislature’s session is only for discussion with no decisions expected.
She described the drone strikes as a form of “pressure on the Kurdistan Region,” adding that “whenever problems and disputes arise between the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad, undoubtedly pressure is imposed on the Kurdistan Region.”
Mohammed attributed the tensions to “political and external agendas” that she said are preventing a resolution between the two sides.
In March, the US rescinded waivers allowing Iraq to import energy from Iran. The Kurdistan Region subsequently signed multibillion-dollar energy deals with American companies in May to develop its oil and gas fields - contracts that Baghdad rejected as unconstitutional and challenged in court. However, Iraq’s Supreme Court on Monday ruled in favor of the KRG, upholding the contracts.
On Tuesday, Iraq's state-run North Oil Company signed an initial agreement with US-based HKN Energy for the development of the Hamrin oil field in Basra province, just hours after a drone strike targeted one of HKN’s oil fields in the Kurdistan Region.
On Monday, Iraq’s Council of Ministers approved a new deal to resume salary payments and restart Kurdish oil exports. Under the agreement, the KRG must export all of its oil through Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), keeping 50,000 barrels per day for local consumption and delivering 230,000 barrels daily to Baghdad.
In exchange, Baghdad is expected to make budget transfers and supply refined fuel if needed. The KRG is also required to submit 120 billion Iraqi dinars (approximately $92 million) in non-oil revenues each month.
Aziz Ahmad, deputy chief of staff to KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, said Wednesday that the drone attacks by “criminal militias on the Iraqi government payroll” have caused the loss of nearly 200,000 barrels in production.
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