What happened

Four drones targeted Sardar Group's Castrol motor-oil and lubricant storage depot in the Kani Qirzhala area, about 5km outside Erbil, in a sequence of attacks lasting roughly three hours. The first drone struck at about 07:20–07:30 local time and ignited a massive fire. A second hit at about 08:40 while civil-defence crews were fighting the blaze, prompting responders to withdraw for safety, and a third struck at about 10:20. Officials said a fourth drone was intercepted or exploded before reaching the site. Erbil Governor Omed Khoshnaw confirmed the repeated strikes and said the compound's contents had burned; no casualties were reported. Sardar Group described the depot as a licensed civilian commercial facility serving automotive, agricultural-machinery and construction needs, and later estimated its losses at approximately $5 million. No responsible actor was established in the reviewed reporting. This is a separate event from the 18 August 2026 Tanjaro fuel-depot fire near Sulaymaniyah, which occurred at a different facility and was not reported as an attack.

When cited sources give different casualty, damage or spill figures for this event, they’re reported side by side above rather than merged into one number. See how confidence levels work.