BAGHDAD, July 11 (Xinhua) -- The Directorate General of Counter Terrorism for Iraq's Kurdistan region said Friday that an explosive drone was shot down near the base of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the country's northern province of Kirkuk.

The drone was shot down at 1:35 a.m. on Friday local time (2235 GMT Thursday) near the base of Kurdish security forces, known as Peshmerga, in the Kirkuk province without causing casualties.

The incident followed the downing of another unidentified drone near a Peshmerga military base in Sulaymaniyah province in northeastern Iraq on Thursday evening, according to Kurdish media.

Major General Ahmed Latif, spokesperson for the 70th brigade of the Peshmerga forces, told the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan media network that a drone was detected flying over the vicinity of the 70th brigade in Sulaymaniyah on Thursday night.

Security personnel successfully brought down the drone without causing any damage, it said.

No group has claimed responsibility so far.

Iraq has witnessed an increasing number of drone attacks recently. On July 3, a booby-trapped drone was also shot down near Erbil International Airport in Iraq's Kurdistan region. ■