Roj Bash Kurdistan

ERBIL (Reuters) - A blast and gunfire were heard in central Erbil on Friday, a Reuters witness said, as photographs on social media suggested the explosion happened near the U.S. consulate in the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.

The blast occurred in the city's Christian quarter Ankawa which is home to many foreign nationals. Photographs posted online showed burning and smoke in front of the consulate.

Such attacks are relatively rare in Erbil which has escaped the worst of the violence that is a daily occurrence in much of Iraq.

There was no immediate official word on the incident.

(Reporting by Isabel Coles; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSK ... 7?irpc=932

Reports of an explosion heard near the U.S Consulate in Erbil

Possible bomb attack Ainkawa. Exact location unknown yet

Does anyone have anymore information???

One person was killed, and five wounded in a car bombing close to the U.S. consulate in Iraqi Kurdistan's capital Erbil on Friday, the local mayor said.

"A car bomb exploded outside the entrance to the U.S. consulate," said Nihad Qoja. "It seems the consulate was the target."

Rudaw

A bombing struck near the US Consulate in Erbil on Friday, reportedly killing three civilians and injuring five others, including an American, the district police chief said.

The large explosion occurred at 5:40 pm, a busy time in the Christian neighborhood of Ainkawa popular with Westerners. The bomb struck outside the gates of the US Consulate and compound that houses diplomats and staff.

Gunfire erupted after the after the blast but has since stopped, witnesses told Rudaw.

According to initial reports, security guards tried to stop an attacker, possibly in a vehicle, when the explosive detonated.

A source at a nearby Rojhalat Hospital confirmed the three deaths and the injury to a US citizen.

http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/170420151

NBC News

Erbil Blast: Car Bomb Explodes Outside U.S. Consulate in Iraq, Official Says

A car bomb exploded 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. The Associated Press, citing one of its reporters at the scene, said that the blast set nearby cars on fire.

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 State Department official said local authorities were securing the area.

Erbil is in the Iraqi north and is the Kurdish regional capital. The Kurds, backed by American airstrikes, have been fighting ISIS outside the city, and have driven the militants back in recent months.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/car-b ... nt-n343536

Seems bomb targeted Turkish Nelly Cafe close to the US consulate but not the US consulate itself

Details still insure

ISIS claims deadly Erbil car bomb attack

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant group has claimed responsibility for a car bomb blast that killed three close to the U.S. consulate in the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Erbil, the U.S.-based SITE monitoring group said, quoting an ISIS-linked Twitter account.

No consulate staff were hurt, the U.S. State Department said.

Al Arabiya News Channel’s Iraq correspondent Ahmed al-Hamadani said smoke billowed near the site of the explosion.

ISIS holds vast amounts of territory in northern Iraq, including the country’s second largest city of Mosul, although it is currently being held back by making gains on Kurdish territory by the peshmerga forces.

Iraqi Kurdistan is commonly regarded as the most secure region in the conflict-ridden country

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/mi ... Erbil.html

Some reports say 3 deads, others 2. IF the last is the true we could hope that only the terrorists died in this attack.