Iraq says it foiled effort to manufacture drones in Baghdad

Iraq's National Security Service arrested three suspects and foiled an attempt to manufacture drones in the capital Baghdad, the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported Thursday.

The agency, citing a statement by the National Security Service, said the suspects were arrested in connection with an attempt to manufacture unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) inside Baghdad.

It did not give further details on the suspects or the drones' intended use.

Separately, Sabah al-Numan, spokesman for the commander-in-chief of Iraq's armed forces, said Thursday that the mission of the international coalition in Iraq will end as scheduled on Sept. 30

The US-led coalition was formed in 2014 to fight ISIS (Daesh), which at the time controlled large parts of Iraq and Syria. Iraq declared in 2017 that it had fully retaken its territory from ISIS, though the terror group has continued to carry out sporadic attacks.

Speaking to INA, Numan said the Iraqi government is "keen to regulate the issue of weapons in the country."

The news comes amid heightened regional tensions and days after Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein and his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan discussed developments in the region, stressing the need to contain escalation and resolve disputes peacefully.

On July 27, Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted and destroyed several drones launched from Iraqi territory that attempted to target oil facilities in its Eastern Province and the capital Riyadh.

Riyadh blamed "Iranian-affiliated militias" for the attacks and said it reserved the right to respond.