UAE firm suspends operations at Iraq gas complex after drone attack

Emirati-owned Dana Gas has suspended operations at a gas complex in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region after a drone strike that killed four people, it said on Monday.

The Khor Mor complex owned by the United Arab Emirates firm has been hit several times in recent years, but Friday’s attack was the first deadly incident.

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Four workers died and eight others were wounded when the drone struck a condensate storage tank, Dana Gas said in a statement to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.

“Although there was very minor damage to the facilities, for the safety of all our staff and the facilities, we have temporarily suspended production and instituted specific procedural changes,” it said.

Unclaimed Katyusha rocket attacks have targeted the complex several times in recent years without causing significant damage. Kurdish officials have previously blamed pro-Iran groups for the attacks.

Friday’s strike disrupted gas supply to the region’s power plants, resulting in the loss of 2,500 megawatts (MW) of electricity, local electricity authorities said.

Iraqi security forces formed an investigative committee to probe the incident, vowing that the “aggressors” will be punished.

Dana Gas said it was “engaged with governmental authorities to enhance the security and defense measures to allow the resumption of production at the Khor Mor gas facility”.

The Khor Mor gas field lies between the cities of Kirkuk and Sulaimaniyah, in a region administered by Kurdish authorities.

The four killed in Friday’s attack are all Yemeni nationals, according to Peshawa Hawramani, spokesperson for the Kurdistan regional government.

In January, two Katyushas targeted the gas field, causing a blaze but no casualties. At the time, pro-Iran Iraqi groups were attacking military bases hosting US forces in Iraq and neighboring Syria.

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