US-led coalition confirms one of its unarmed drones malfunctioned and crashed near Erbil

"Coalition officials are working with Kurdistan Regional Government officials to assess any possible damage."

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2022/06/15 20:13

A picture purporting to show the crashed drone was published on social media (Photo: Baxtiyar Goran/Twitter)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The US-led coalition against ISIS confirmed that one of its unarmed drones malfunctioned and crashed north of Erbil in a statement on Wednesday evening.

"An unarmed Coalition unmanned aerial system malfunctioned and crash landed north of Erbil, Iraq, June 15 at 1:08 p.m. No one was harmed in the incident," read the official statement.

"Coalition officials are working with Kurdistan Regional Government officials to assess any possible damage," it added.

Unarmed Coalition UAS crashes north of Erbil.https://t.co/1NwcBttl4o pic.twitter.com/Uss8TggbHF
— Inherent Resolve (@CJTFOIR) June 15, 2022

Moreover, the coalition said that Kurdish partner forces had secured the wreckage of the unmanned aircraft.

"The incident is under investigation. We will release more information when it is available."

Earlier in the day, the Kurdistan Region's Directorate General of Counter Terrorism (CTD) announced a "local surveillance drone" crashed into an internet tower in Ankawa district's Gird Jotyar due to a "technical issue".

The CTD also said that the crash did not cause any casualties.

"The incident is not a threat, nor an attack on the Kurdistan Region," tweeted Lawk Ghafuri, the Head of Foreign Media Relations of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Council of Ministers.