Erbil airport suspends flights after drone attacks on city

ERBIL, Iraq — Erbil International Airport suspended all flights on Tuesday after a wave of drone strikes hit the Kurdish regional capital, the airport director said. Director Ahmed Husheyar said the decision to halt arriving and departing services was a temporary measure taken because of the ongoing attacks on the city center and surrounding airspace, and that flights would resume once security conditions stabilized. A security source said in the same hours that U.S. air defense systems stationed at the U.S. Consulate in Erbil intercepted four drones that were targeting the consulate compound. The airport administration said in its statement that operations would remain on hold until the security picture became clear. No casualties or damage figures were immediately reported. Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, has faced repeated drone and rocket attacks in recent months targeting facilities linked to foreign diplomatic and military missions, as well as oil-sector sites. Further details on the perpetrators or the duration of the suspension were not immediately available.