Khor Mor drone strike knocks out gas, cuts 2,800 MW in Kurdistan

A drone strike on the Khor Mor gasfield knocked 2,500–2,800 MW off electricity generation across the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) area late on Sunday, according to regional officials. The attack hit Sulaimaniyah governorate, sparked a fire, and forced the suspension of gas supplies to several power stations feeding the semi-autonomous Kurdish north of Iraq.

No group has claimed responsibility. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has ordered a joint investigative committee with KRG authorities to identify the perpetrators. Neither the launch site nor the attackers are officially established.

Who is being blamed — and why now?

KRG authorities have blamed Iran-backed groups in Iraq for previous strikes on Khor Mor in recent years. The attack lands amid heightened regional tension from the US–Israel war on Iran, and amid Baghdad's push to bring weapons held by pro-Iranian Shia armed factions under state control.

Reuters has reported the drone originated from the Tuz Khurmatu area of Salah al-Din governorate, outside the Kurdish region. That report remains unconfirmed by officials. The strike also came days after the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) pulled out of the KRG, deepening its rift with the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

What does the attack mean for Iraqi sovereignty?

Mohammed Amer, a political science academic and KDP member, called the strike a genuine test of the Iraqi state's ability to rein in armed groups and protect vital facilities.

"The [federal Iraqi] government bears responsibility for protecting Iraqi territory and airspace," Amer told Al Jazeera. "The repeated targeting of energy sources in the Kurdistan Region also requires it to hold accountable the parties and factions behind these attacks."

Amer warned that repeated strikes could deter foreign investment in Iraq's energy industry. "These strikes target foreign investment in Iraq's energy sector, particularly as the Khor Mor field has been targeted many times using drones and missiles," he said. "There are factions that declare their loyalty to Iran and not to the Iraqi state."

Caveat worth noting: this is commentary from a partisan actor inside the KDP–PUK dispute, not an independent assessment. No operator or government figure has quantified investment exposure.

Is this economic warfare?

Strategic affairs researcher Kadhim Yawer framed the strike as externally driven. "The strategic purpose of targeting the Khor Mor field at this time is primarily due to external factors linked to the escalation of the conflict between Iran and the US, as well as the desire to inflict economic damage on the Kurdistan Region and Iraq in general," he said.

Yawer argued the US-led coalition withdrawal from Iraq has widened the security gap, with some parliamentarians still resisting full militia disarmament. He also noted the stakes could grow, because the KRG wants to expand gas output from Khor Mor and potentially reach new export markets — an ambition now hostage to repeat attacks.

Political researcher Ghanem al-Abed flagged the timing: the strike coincided with KDP–PUU friction and with armed factions resisting the prime minister's disarmament demands. He said further attacks could hurt power supply beyond Kurdish-administered areas, because Khor Mor gas also feeds generation in Kirkuk and Nineveh governorates.

"The situation in Iraq could explode at any moment because some armed factions are not complying with the demand to hand over their weapons to the state," al-Abed said. "If war breaks out again between Iran and the US, these factions may intervene, and Iraq could then turn into a battlefield."

That is a worst-case scenario, not a forecast. Nothing in the official record yet establishes who fired the drone or why.

Watch item: the joint Baghdad–KRG investigation's findings on the launch site and perpetrators, plus the pace of gas supply restoration to the affected power stations.