ISIS attacks United States consulate in Irbil, Iraq
Sunday, April 19, 2015
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On Friday a car bomb, claimed by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), killed, by varying reports, at least three people and injured at least five others, possibly including a US national, outside of the United States Consulate in Irbil, Iraq. According to the US Department of State there were no injuries to consulate personnel.
According to police, following a small improvised explosion, a car approached the consulate, but exploded short of the consulate when fired on by security personnel. They said the explosives seem to have been triggered by the people inside the car, not the gunfire.
According to Reuters, until this incident there had been little ISIS aggression in Irbil since November. Ainkawa, the consulate's neighborhood, is mainly Christian. Reportedly the primary blast took place at approximately 5:40 p.m. local time, when the neighborhood is busy.
On Saturday, an attack claimed by ISIS in Afghanistan killed reportedly at least thirty-three people outside of a major bank which had a long line of people outside of it waiting to collect their pay checks.
Sources
- Hamdi Alkhshali. "ISIS claims blast near U.S. Consulate in Iraq" — CNN, April 18, 2015
- Isabel Coles. "Car bomb kills three outside U.S. consulate in Iraq's Kurdish capital" — Reuters, April 17, 2015
- Justin Fishel. "Car Bomb Explodes Outside US Consulate in Erbil, Iraq" — ABC News, April 17, 2015
- Richard Engel and Erin McClam. "Erbil Blast: Car Bomb Explodes Outside U.S. Consulate in Iraq, Official Says" — NBC News, April 17, 2015
- "3 killed in suicide car bombing near US Consulate in Erbil" — Rudaw Media Network, April 17, 2015
