By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) -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.

The US and UK Embassies in Baghdad have issued statements regarding recent drone attacks targeting the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. “The United States condemns the recent drone attacks throughout Iraq, including the July 14 and July 15 drone attacks on critical infrastructure at the Khormala and Sarsang oil fields in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region,

“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.