Explosions heard in Iraq's Erbil, US-run oil field shut down

• Explosions rocked the area near Erbil airport, which hosts US-led coalition troops, while a drone attack on the Sarsang oil field in Dohuk province forced the US firm HKN Energy to shut down production.
• The attacks, claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, have led most foreign oil companies in the Kurdistan region to halt production as a precaution, dragging Iraq back into a direct confrontation between the US and Iran-backed groups.

Explosions sounded on Friday near Erbil airport in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region and an attack forced a US-run oil field to shut production.

Loud bangs were heard and grey smoke rose from near the airport area, which hosts US-led coalition troops. 

The autonomous Kurdistan region, which hosts US troops, has been pulled into the war engulfing the Middle East, suffering mostly from drone attacks on US bases and interests there.

Drones have repeatedly been intercepted over the city of Erbil, which is also home to a major US consulate complex.

Kurdistan's natural resources ministry said on Friday that oil production at an oil field operated by US firm HKN Energy had been halted following an attack in the Sarsang area in Dohuk province.

A security source told AFP the attack was carried out with two drones the previous day.

Iraq, which has recently regained a sense of stability but has long been a proxy battleground between the US and Iran, had said it did not want to be dragged into the war. But it has not been spared.

Several Iran-backed armed groups -- known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, to which Kataeb Hezbollah also belongs -- have said they will not stay neutral and have claimed dozens of drone attacks on US bases.

On Tuesday, a source at an oil company in Kurdistan told AFP that most foreign oil companies had temporarily halted production as a precautionary measure.