US forces shoot down Iranian drone heading for Iraq, officials say

A US official told CNN that the US jet fired an F- 15 jet to shoot down an Iranian drone that appeared to be heading towards US forces in Erbil, Iraq.

US forces launched a jet after tracking dozens of Iranian short range ballistic missiles headed for Kurdish positions in northern Iraq Wednesday, according to two other US officials. The initial assessment is that the launches originated inside Iran, the officials said.

One of the officials said this was a significant incident.

U.S. forces brought down an Iranian Mojer 6 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle headed for Erbil at approximately 2: 10 PM local time, US Central Command, which oversees the US military presence in the Middle East, said in a statement.

Earlier Wednesday, nine people were killed, including civilians, after Iran s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted Kurdish separatist groups in northern Iraq, Kurdistan Regional Government KRG Health Minister Saman Barzanji told CNN.com.

The IRGC used missiles and drones to target the offices of Kurdish groups, designated by Iran as terrorist organizations, Iranian state-aligned news Tasnim said.

The US Central Command condemned the unprovoked attack from the IRGC in Iraq.

Senior US Central Command Spokesperson Col. Joe Buccino said that such indiscriminate attacks threaten innocent lives and risk the hard-fought stability of the region.

No US forces were killed or wounded as a result of the IRGC strikes, and there was no damage to US equipment, according to US Central Command.

In the past, Iran has targeted militants based in Iraq's Kurdish region, but attacks have increased since the weekend. Tehran is accusing Kurdish groups of destabilizing the country by supporting protesters who have protested against Iranian authorities after the death of Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini, according to Fars, a government aligned news agency.

Both US officials emphasised that the Iranians were trying to harm Kurdish forces in order to divert attention from the current protests in Iran. In western parts of Iran, protests have raged, home to many Kurds angered by the death of Amini.

The launch of such a large number of ballistic missiles raises concerns about long term Iranian intentions and potential escalation, the officials said.