Kirkuk airport says operations uninterrupted, denies fire on premises

KIRKUK, Iraq — Kirkuk International Airport is operating on schedule with ten daily round-trip flights to Turkey and Saudi Arabia, the airport's media officer Hirdi al-Salihi said, adding that no delays or cancellations have been recorded. Technical and administrative teams are working on their normal schedule and operations are proceeding according to approved plans, he said, with air traffic flowing without disruption. Al-Salihi dismissed social media reports of a fire inside the airport as inaccurate, saying the blaze broke out in a dry grassland area around the airport perimeter. He said it was kept away from live facilities and operational zones and was brought under control within a short period by civil defense teams. An airport source also confirmed that flights are continuing normally, that no disruption to operations has been logged so far, and that teams are maintaining daily monitoring. The airport authority did not provide further details on the fire's cause or damage.