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.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) -A drone attack targeted an oilfield operated by Norwegian oil and gas firm DNO in Tawke, in the Zakho Administration area of northern Iraq, on Thursday, the Kurdistan region's counter-terrorism service said. The attack is the second on the DNO-operated field since a wave of drone attacks began early this week.

“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.