Iraqis suffer as US-Iran shadow war shifts gear

The drone, packed with explosives, used the civilian flight path into Irbil airport to disguise its intent. It crashed into a CIA warehouse on the American airbase beside the civilian airport in April.

US forces described feeling the shockwave across the base, which now has the biggest concentration of US and British forces in Iraq. The warehouse was left in ruins, but no-one was hurt.

"They knew what they were hitting, but they didn't know what was inside," said one US commander.