One killed in Iraq's Erbil after vehicle explodes - statement

An explosive device attached to the bottom of the car detonated, killing the driver and injuring two women and two children who were in the car.

Lebanese riot police walk near burning fire during a protest against the fall in pound currency and mounting economic hardship, in Beirut, Lebanon (photo credit: REUTERS/MOHAMED AZAKIR)
Lebanese riot police walk near burning fire during a protest against the fall in pound currency and mounting economic hardship, in Beirut, Lebanon
(photo credit: REUTERS/MOHAMED AZAKIR)

One person was killed and four were injured when a vehicle exploded in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil on Friday, the Kurdistan region's counter-terrorism service said.

What happened in Erbil?

An explosive device attached to the bottom of the car detonated at around 1 p.m. (1000 GMT), killing the driver and injuring two women and two children who were in the car, it said in a statement.

The counter-terrorism service has opened an investigation into the incident, the statement added.

A Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, identified the driver who was killed as 41-year-old Hawkar Abdullah Rasoul and the two women injured as Rasoul's wife and sister.

A security member walks as flames and smoke rising from oil wells are seen in the distance at the Bai Hassan oilfield, which was attacked by militants, close to the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, Iraq, May 5, 2021. (credit: REUTERS/AKO RASHEED)
A security member walks as flames and smoke rising from oil wells are seen in the distance at the Bai Hassan oilfield, which was attacked by militants, close to the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, Iraq, May 5, 2021. (credit: REUTERS/AKO RASHEED)

Rasoul was a colonel in the PUK counter-terrorism service, the official said.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which controls the Kurdish government in the capital Erbil, and the PUK, which dominates areas along the Iranian border and is headquartered in Sulaimaniya, are the two main parties ruling the Kurdish region.