Production was halted on Sunday at Iraq's Khor Mor gas field, one of the largest in the Kurdistan region, after a drone attack targeted the site, two security sources told Reuters.

Smoke was seen rising from the field in Chamchamal, in Sulaymaniyah province, after the strike. An engineer working at the field said a gas storage facility was hit during the attack, and all crew were ordered to take shelter for fear of further attacks.

The Kurdistan Regional Government's electricity ministry said the shutdown cut gas supplies to five power stations and warned that electricity generation would fall by 2,500 to 2,800 megawatts. That is roughly two-thirds of the region's normal power supply, according to reports from the area.

Officials moved to limit the damage by switching on backup generation. Omed Ahmad, a spokesperson for the regional electricity ministry, told Kurdistan24 that hydropower stations at the Dukan and Darbandikhan dams, along with power stations running on alternative fuels, would be brought into use.

Ahmad said the measures were intended to prevent a wider blackout and to give priority to essential facilities, including hospitals and water stations. He said the full effect of the power shortage was expected from midnight on Sunday, and that restoring normal electricity supplies depended on gas production resuming at Khor Mor.

The field supplies gas used to generate much of the Kurdistan region's electricity, and it also provides household cooking gas, so the shutdown reaches beyond the power grid and into homes across the region.

No group had claimed responsibility for the attack by Sunday evening, and no casualties had been reported in the initial assessments. The type of weapon used was also not settled: while Reuters' sources described a drone attack, Rudaw reported that a projectile had struck a gas-storage unit, causing significant damage and a large fire, and that a source could not determine whether it was a drone or a rocket.

Khor Mor is operated by Pearl Petroleum, a consortium that includes the UAE-based Dana Gas and Crescent Petroleum. The field has been attacked repeatedly in recent years, including a strike last November that also halted production, and the latest attack underlines how exposed the region's energy infrastructure remains as the wider conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran spills over into Iraq.

There was no immediate word on when production might restart. For now, the region faces a night of sharply reduced power while engineers assess the damage to the storage facility and officials wait to see whether the field can be brought back online.