Drone Strike Halts Khor Mor Gas Field, Causing Widespread Power Outages in Iraq

The attack ignited a fire that responders contained by early the following day, with no fatalities reported but minor injuries to personnel.

MIDDLE EAST — A drone strike targeted a storage tank at the Khor Mor gas field in Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, late on November 26. The attack ignited a fire that responders contained by early the following day, with no fatalities reported but minor injuries to personnel.

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Operations halted immediately for safety evaluations, severing gas flows to power plants and triggering outages across the region, including Erbil and Dohuk, where residents faced up to 19 hours without electricity daily.

This marks the second incident in a week, after security forces intercepted a drone on November 23 using U.S.-supplied radar systems. Joint probes by Kurdish and federal entities, launched on November 28, focus on trajectories from the Hamrin Mountains area, about 15-35 kilometers north.

Forensic traces suggest Iranian-manufactured munitions, pointing to Iran-aligned Popular Mobilization Forces elements, such as the 63rd Turkmen Brigade.

The field, managed by Pearl Petroleum—a UAE-led consortium including Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum—holds 8.2 trillion cubic feet in proven reserves and supports 20 percent of Iraq’s electricity via thermal plants serving over 7 million users.

The Khor Mor facility covers 135 square kilometers and, following the KM250 expansion completed in October, processes over 750 million cubic feet daily. This boost, financed partly by U.S. aid, raised capacity by 50 percent to meet winter demands.

The November 26 strike scattered shrapnel, damaging auxiliary compressors but sparing primary pipelines and wells, according to operator inspections.

Environmental scans detected no major spills, though naphtha residues led to evacuations in Chamchamal. Coalition imagery confirmed unguided munitions patterns matching July refinery assaults, highlighting tactics for remote interference.

Incident Response and Security Measures