Car bomb near US consulate in Iraqi Kurdistan

A car bomb blast near the US consulate in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region killed three people and wounded five on Friday, Kurdish officials said.

A spokeswoman in Washington said that all consulate staff had been accounted for and that "there are no reports of injuries to Chief of Mission personnel or local guards".

"The initial toll is three killed and five wounded when a suicide car bomb exploded here near the US consulate," said Jalal Habib, the mayor of Ainkawa, where the explosion occurred.

The police spokesman for Arbil, the contiguous Kurdish capital, said it was unclear if the car bomb was detonated by a suicide attacker but he gave the same toll.

It was not immediately clear whether the US consulate was the target of the attack, which occurred near popular cafes.

"A vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) was detonated directly outside an entry point on the perimeter of the US Consulate in Arbil," acting State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement.

"We appreciate the rapid response of the Kurdistan Regional Government authorities to this matter and we will work with them to investigate the incident to determine the facts behind the explosion."

The relatively stable autonomous Kurdish region has mostly been spared the car bombings that have plagued other parts of Iraq on an almost daily basis.

The last major such attack was a suicide car bomb blast near the governor's compound in Arbil in November.
Source: AFP