Deadly Car Bombing in Kurdish Capital of Erbil
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Wathiq Khuzaie/Getty Images(ERBIL, Iraq) — The Kurdish capital of Erbil was rocked by a suicide car bombing Wednesday that killed at least four people and wounded 29 others.
The attack outside the governor’s compound marked the first terrorist assault in the city since Kurdish fighters began repelling the advance of Islamic State militants, who had taken over large swaths of northern and western Iraq. There are also American consular personnel in Erbil along with military staff protecting them.
There was no claim of responsibility for the bombing that occurred when the driver of the car detonated his explosives after being stopped by guards at a checkpoint.
Although the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq has avoided much of the violence caused by ISIS and its allies, leaders there are pleading for more help from the West.
Iraqi Kurdish President Massoud Barzani said that while U.S. and coalition air strikes have hurt ISIS’ ability to advance in Iraq, he said the Kurds still need armored personnel carriers and heavy artillery.
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