A drone laden with explosives was shot down near Erbil airport in northern Iraq late on Thursday, the latest in a spate of drone attacks around the country in recent days.
The counter-terrorism agency in the Kurdistan region said no casualties or damage had been reported, but the incident, at 9.58pm local time, delayed the landing of one aircraft.
It was unclear who was responsible for the attack.
Erbil's airport authority said “flight operations continued normally and the airport was not affected by any damage”.
The National has contacted authorities in Erbil for further comment.
Erbil is the capital of Iraq's three-province Kurdistan region. The airport often comes under attack as it hosts an American airbase with hundreds of military personnel.
The US usually blames such incidents on Iran-backed militias in Iraq. Iranian proxy groups have frequently threatened to expand attacks on US bases in the region.
In recent days, drone and rocket attacks have been reported in several areas of Iraq, including drones that landed in open spaces.
Earlier on Thursday, an explosive-packed drone fell near Kirkuk airport, which was also struck on Monday by two rockets, a senior security official told news agency AFP.
Kirkuk airport hosts Iraqi army units, federal police and the Hashed Al Shaabi, a coalition of pro-Iran former paramilitary forces now integrated into Iraq's regular armed forces.
On Tuesday, Iraq's anti-aircraft defence engaged at least one drone near the key oil refinery of Baiji in Salaheddin province.
The incidents follow a 12-day aerial war between Iran and Israel that killed hundreds of people. During the war, several radar systems in Iraq were attacked by unidentified drones targeting military bases. Dozens of drones and missiles were seen flying through Iraqi airspace.
One drone hit a radar system at Al Taji military base, north of Baghdad. Another drone attacked the radar system at the Imam Ali airbase in the southern Dhi Qar province, according to the government in Baghdad.
Iraq has long been a battleground of drone and rocket attacks and has proved fertile ground for proxy wars. The country has only recently regained a semblance of stability after decades of devastating conflicts and turmoil.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Scotland 220
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