Has Iraq failed to control drone movement?

Mustafa Saadoun

Aug 5, 2020

A picture taken on January 13, 2020, during a press tour organised by the US-led coalition fighting the remnants of the Islamic State group, shows US army drones at the Ain al-Asad airbase in the western Iraqi province of Anbar. - Iran last week launched a wave of missiles at the sprawling Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq and a base in Arbil, capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, both hosting US and other foreign troops, in an operation it dubbed a response to the killing of Qasem Soleimani, the h — A picture taken during a press tour organized by the US-led coalition fighting the remnants of the Islamic State shows a US army drone at the Ain al-Asad air base in western Anbar province, Iraq, Jan. 13, 2020. — AYMAN HENNA/AFP via Getty Images

Iraqi security sources reported July 30 that unidentified drones had been seen near Hit district in Anbar province in the west of the country. The sources said that “the fixed wing drones are the property of the Islamic State [IS].”

It is likely that IS is using these drones. In the Mosul battles, IS often used drones to strike Iraqi security forces by loading the drones with missiles that it would then drop on Iraqi military complexes.