Debris from US-Israel-Iran war hits Iraq, injures civilians

Shafaq News- Baghdad

One week into the US-Israel military campaign against Iran, the war is spilling into Iraq, where missile and drone debris has injured civilians, damaged property, and disrupted daily life across several provinces.

At least three civilians were wounded in Basra after rocket warheads landed near a clinic and a house, while in Erbil an explosive-laden drone damaged a Chaldean convent. In Kirkuk and Saladin, residents reported shrapnel falling on rooftops and farmland, leaving holes in homes and craters in fields.

Kurdistan Region counter-terrorism authorities explained that much of the falling debris appeared to be wreckage from intercepted missiles and drones rather than direct strikes, and urged residents not to approach the remnants.

The conflict has also pushed Iraq to close its airspace to all traffic, schools in the Kurdistan Region to halt for days, and authorities to pause gas exports from the Khor Mor field, which could cut electricity generation by 2,500 to 3,000 megawatts and worsen power outages.

The spillover intensified when the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) declared an open front against US bases and interests in Iraq following the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, claiming dozens of drone and rocket attacks. In response, Iraqi security forces said they foiled attempted strikes by discovering a nine-rocket launcher in Abu Ghraib aimed at Baghdad International Airport on March 3, then seizing a mobile two-rocket launcher in Zubair a day later. Iraq’s Security Media Cell also said air defenses shot down nine drones targeting military positions in Dhi Qar and Basra.