Drones struck oilfields in Iraqi Kurdistan on Thursday, with officials pointing to Iran-backed militias as the likely source of attacks this week that have slashed the region's oil output by more than half.

“The drone attacks in Kurdish energy sites grew out of a sequence of drone attacks since 19 June on Kurdish security forces, where Iraqi militias were claiming that Kurdistan was supporting Israeli and US strikes on Iran,” Michael Knights, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute, told MEE.

An explosive-laden drone struck an oilfield in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on Thursday morning, the region’s security forces said, the latest in a series of attacks since early this month. Kurdistan’s counter-terrorism service said the drone hit Tawke field in the Zakho Administration which is operated by Norwegian oil and gas company DNO.