Drones struck a Castrol oil storage facility operated by the Sardar Group on the Erbil-Mosul road on Wednesday, triggering a fire that consumed the compound across three waves. Erbil Governor Omed Xoshnaw confirmed three drones hit the depot directly while a fourth was intercepted and destroyed before reaching the site. No personnel were injured.
This morning, two drones struck a British motor oil company in Erbil, causing a massive fire, with no casualties reported – Rudaw’s @dilnyarahman reports pic.twitter.com/VLfiCGASz9
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) April 1, 2026
The first strike landed at approximately 7:30 a.m. local time, targeting a depot storing automotive motor oil. Further strikes hit the same location at 8:40 a.m. and 10:20 a.m. Emergency crews reached the site after the first wave but withdrew as additional drones approached.
“The repeated bombardment and the scale of the fire have left nothing inside the depot untouched by flames,” Xoshnaw told Kurdistan24.
“We arrived on the scene, but we could not put out the fire because of imminent threats of more drones,” Jawhar Omar of the Erbil fire brigade told Rudaw.
Hours before the first strike, Iranian Ambassador to the UK Seyed Ali Mousavi told Times Radio that Tehran was evaluating whether British military bases constituted legitimate targets following U.S. use of RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia for strikes on Iran.
“This is a very important matter we are considering. Every option should be considered. We are very careful and delicate about how to defend ourselves,” Mousavi said.
The same morning, a drone struck the Sarsang oilfield near Duhok, operated by U.S.-based HKN Energy, the field’s second attack since March 5.
Iran and Iranian-aligned forces have conducted more than 5,471 missile and drone attacks targeting U.S. bases and critical sites across seven Arab countries since February 28, according to data compiled from defense ministries and official information centers of affected countries.
