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| Iraq | |
| Kurdish police deters terrorist attack on U.S. consulate in Erbil | |
| 2015-04-18 | |
| [ARA] On Friday, a car kaboom targeted the Police Station of Ain Kawa district in the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, but members of the security forces opened fire on it, blowing up the car before reaching the U.S. consulate. Security sources reported that the car was under surveillance minuts before heading to the district, adding it was containing a large amount of improvised bombs which explained the frequent kabooms after being targeted by the Kurdish police. No official statements were released by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) or the American Secretary of State. At least two non-combatants were killed due to the car's kaboom. They were both existing the nearby Nilly Cafe, according to eyewitnesses. Two security members were also injured during the operation. Speaking to ARA News, Lieutenant in the Peshmerga forces Saadoun Sino said that the Kurdish security forces of Asayish in Erbil have been prepared for such terrorist attacks. "That's why they were able to deter the attack and prevent the bomber from reaching the target," Sino said. According to a medical source in Erbil, a Turkish national and an American were also maimed due to the kabooms in the district.
kaboom!on Friday outside the U.S. Consulate in the Iraqi city of Erbil, a State Department official told NBC News. There were no immediate reports of injuries to consulate personnel or local guards, the State Department official said. A Kurdish medical official at the main trauma center in the city told NBC News two people died and eight others were maimed in the blast. The identities of the two dead are unclear. Talmadge Payne, an American working as a consultant for a non-government organization in Erbil, told NBC News that he was sitting on the roof of his hotel, about a half-mile from the consulate, and felt the blast. "If I could feel the blast from here it must have been pretty significant," he said. "The room shook, and a few things fell off the shelves." He said there was a firefight, then about 10 minutes of calm, then more gunfire. The News Agency that Dare Not be Named, citing one of its news hounds at the scene, said that the blast set nearby cars on fire. The consulate is in a district called Ein Kawa, an upscale, mostly Christian neighborhood near the city center. | |
| Posted by:Fred |