One killed in ‘riot’ in Iraq’s Erbil after attack on Khor Mor gas field

At least one person and several others were killed when a group of “rioters” opened fire on fuel tanker trucks in Erbil, northern Iraq, days after a rocket attack on the Khor Mor gas field, according to Kurdish authorities.

The Ministry of Interior of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) tied the shooting to the Khor Mor attack in a statement released late on Saturday by the Iraqi News Agency.

Recommended Stories

list of 3 itemsend of list

Late on Wednesday, the gas field’s largest facility, one of the region’s largest facilities, was hit by a rocket attack, which caused extensive power outages and production shutdown.

Following the Khor Mor attack, the ministry claimed that the KRG had provided liquid fuel to power plants, but that “a group of rioters stooped onto the Gwer road and opened fire on locals and residents.”

One citizen died and several others were hurt as a result of the shooting, the statement read.

The ministry pledged to stop the “riots” by saying, “We will put an end to these sabotage operations.”

The ministry’s statement came after an earlier report from the Iraqi News Agency, which claimed Harkiya tribe members and security forces had been staging armed clashes in Erbil, close to the village of Lajan on the Erbil-Gwer road.

According to the organization, security personnel claimed that the clashes, which occurred close to the Lanaz Company refinery, had “resulted in fatalities and injuries.”

Meanwhile, Masrour Barzani, the prime minister of Iraq, has confirmed that the KRG and the company that runs the Khor Mor gas field have agreed to resume production within hours.

The Khor Mor attack on Thursday marked the most significant act of violence since a number of drone strikes in July, which caused a 150, 000 barrel production slump.

In a statement posted in English, Barzani addressed the company’s leadership to thank them and their staff for their extraordinary resilience and resolve in the wake of eleven attacks on the Khor Mor field.

According to Barzani, “I have urged]Iraqi] Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to hold the perpetrators of this attack accountable to the fullest extent of the law, whoever they may be and wherever they are,” he added.

Authorities have not identified the attacker or claimed responsibility for the attack on Khor Mor.

However, Abdulkhaliq Talaat, a former military official and expert in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, claimed that the drone-caused attack on the Khor Mor gas field was carried out from an area that the Iraqi forces controlled.

An industry source earlier this week told the Reuters news agency that the Khor Mor storage tank is one of several new facilities that a US contractor has partially funded.