Car bomb kills one and injures four in Erbil

Former counter-terrorism officer killed and family members wounded in blast in Iraq's Kurdish region

One person was killed and four were injured in an explosion in the capital of Iraq's Kurdish region on Friday. Photo: Kurdistan CT

One person was killed and four were injured in a car bombing in the capital of Iraq's Kurdish region on Friday.

A man was killed after an explosive device attached to his car detonated in Erbil, in north-east Iraq, an official from the Kurdistan Regional Government told The National. Four others, two women and two children, were also injured but are said to be in good condition.

Car bombings in the city are rare.

The Kurdish counter-terrorism service identified the deceased as a former employee of the region's security council, describing the incident as a “terror attack”.

Two bombs were detonated in the vehicle, it added.

Media affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan political party said the man was a former colonel in the party's counter-terrorism service, responsible for Erbil and Nineveh, which includes the city of Mosul.

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan is one of the Kurdish region's two main ruling parties, the other being the Kurdistan Democratic Party. The former is dominant in Sulaimaniyah, while the latter heads the government in Erbil and is also dominant in Duhok province.

Several areas of Erbil province and neighbouring Sulaimaniyah — both in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region — have been the target of Iranian shelling in recent weeks amid protests in neighbouring Iran.

Erbil city has been spared from the violence.