Khor Mor Drone Strike Exposes Iraq's Energy Chokepoint — and the State's Inability to Defend It

A single drone attack on one gasfield cut 2,500-2,800 MW of Kurdish electricity generation. The real story: Iraq cannot protect its energy infrastructure from militias it refuses to disarm.

A drone attack on the Khor Mor gasfield in Sulaimaniyah governorate on Sunday forced the suspension of gas supplies to multiple power stations, slashing electricity generation in Kurdistan Regional Government-administered areas by 2,500 to 2,800 megawatts. The strike sparked a fire and drew immediate attention to a fundamental weakness: Iraq's critical energy infrastructure sits exposed to non-state armed groups that the central government either cannot or will not bring to heel.

No group has claimed responsibility. Reuters reported the attack originated from the Tuz Khurmatu area of Salah al-Din governorate, outside the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, though neither the launch site nor the perpetrators have been officially confirmed. KRG authorities have blamed Iran-backed groups in Iraq for previous attacks on Khor Mor in recent years. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has ordered a joint investigative committee with KRG authorities. The timing is surgically bad. The attack lands amid three compounding pressures: the US-Israel war on Iran has raised regional tensions to a boil; Baghdad faces resistance from predominantly pro-Iranian Shia armed factions over demands to bring weapons under state control; and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan has just withdrawn from the KRG, deepening the political fracture with its rival, the Kurdistan Democratic Party. Each of these dynamics feeds the others. KDP member and political science academic Mohammed Amer framed the strike as a sovereignty test, arguing the federal government bears responsibility for protecting Iraqi territory and airspace. He warned that repeated targeting of energy assets could deter foreign investment in Iraq's energy sector — a real concern given Khor Mor has been hit multiple times with drones and missiles. Strategic affairs researcher Kadhim Yawer linked the attack directly to external escalation between Iran and the US, combined with the desire to inflict economic damage on Kurdistan and Iraq broadly. The withdrawal of US-led coalition forces from Iraq has compounded the problem. Yawer noted that some political forces, including parliamentarians, continue to oppose full militia disarmament, giving armed groups operational freedom. The KRG had been positioning Khor Mor for expanded gas production and potentially new export markets — ambitions now directly threatened. Political researcher Ghanem al-Abed warned that economic consequences extend beyond KRG-administered areas, given Khor Mor's role in electricity generation for Kirkuk and Nineveh governorates. His assessment was blunt: the situation could explode at any moment. If war breaks out again between Iran and the US, these factions may intervene, and Iraq could become a battlefield. The structural picture is clear. A single gasfield serves as a critical node for regional electricity. The state cannot protect it. The militias that threaten it answer to Tehran, not Baghdad. The Kurdish political coalition that might present a unified security front is fracturing. And the regional escalation cycle makes every subsequent attack more likely, not less.