ISIS claims responsibility for deadly US consulate blast in Iraq that killed two and injured 8 

  • ISIS has taken credit for a bombing near the US Consulate in Iraq on Friday
  • The blast in Ainkawa killed two Turks and injured 8
  • No US Consulate employees were wounded or killed 

By AFP

Published: | Updated:

The Islamic State group claimed credit on Saturday a bombing near the US consulate in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region a day earlier that killed two Turks.

'Security detachments were able to... detonate a car bomb left at the American consulate building in the city that led to the killing and wounding of many of them,' ISIS said in a daily audio message posted online.

But the US State Department said the bombing in Ainkawa, near Kurdish regional capital Arbil, did not kill or wound any consular employees.

People gather at the site of a blast in Arbil's Ankawa neighborhood, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, on April 17, 2015

People gather at the site of a blast in Arbil's Ankawa neighborhood, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, on April 17, 2015

Kurdish security forces respond to the large explosion, which can be seen in the distance

Kurdish security forces respond to the large explosion, which can be seen in the distance

Saman Barzanchi, the head of the Arbil health department, said Saturday that two ethnically Kurdish Turks were killed and eight people wounded.

Officials had said Friday three people were killed. 

An ISIS-spearheaded offensive overran large areas of Iraq last year, and forces from the Kurdistan region have battled the jihadists on multiple fronts in the north.

The relatively stable region has largely been spared the bombings and shootings that have plagued other parts of Iraq on an almost daily basis.

The last major attack was a suicide car bombing near the governor's compound in Arbil in November. 

Islamic State also claimed responsibility for two car bombings in Baghdad that killed at least 27 people on Friday.

'The fighters of the Islamic State detonated two car bombs in the heart of the Iraqi capital this evening and a third in Erbil,' the group said via its news agency. 

Saman Barzanchi, the head of the Arbil health department, said Saturday that two ethnically Kurdish Turks were killed and eight people wounded

Saman Barzanchi, the head of the Arbil health department, said Saturday that two ethnically Kurdish Turks were killed and eight people wounded

Officials had said Friday three people were killed, but that number was later changed to two

Officials had said Friday three people were killed, but that number was later changed to two

An ISIS-spearheaded offensive overran large areas of Iraq last year, and forces from the Kurdistan region have battled the jihadists on multiple fronts in the north

An ISIS-spearheaded offensive overran large areas of Iraq last year, and forces from the Kurdistan region have battled the jihadists on multiple fronts in the north

Last week, two bomb attacks claimed by Egyptian jihadists loyal to the Islamic State killed at least 14 people in the restive Sinai Peninsula, including 11 security personnel.

Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which has carried out a slew of attacks in Sinai since the army's ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, claimed responsibility.

A roadside bomb attack on an army vehicle killed six soldiers and wounded two near the North Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid, a jihadist stronghold. 

'An armoured personnel carrier for the army of the apostates was destroyed... killing and wounding all aboard,' Ansar Beit al-Madqis said on a Twitter account attributed to it.

The military said six soldiers were killed in the attack.

'Their vehicle was targeted by an explosive device placed by the extremist terrorist elements which left an officer, a sergeant, and four soldiers martyred, and two other soldiers wounded,' it said on its Facebook page.

Kurdish policemen stand guard at the site of a suicide bomb attack at the entrance of US consulate

Kurdish policemen stand guard at the site of a suicide bomb attack at the entrance of US consulate

Kurdish policemen inspect the site of a suicide bomb attack at the entrance of US consulate

Kurdish policemen inspect the site of a suicide bomb attack at the entrance of US consulate

A Kurdish policeman inspects a damaged car at the site of a suicide bomb

A Kurdish policeman inspects a damaged car at the site of a suicide bomb

Hours later a suicide car bomb targeting a police station in North Sinai's provincial capital of El-Arish killed eight people and wounded 45 others, health ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel Gaffar said.

The interior ministry said in a separate statement that five policemen and a civilian were among those killed in the police station bombing, while several policemen were wounded.

It said security forces fired at the vehicle before it was able to ram the police station.

A police officer said the truck was loaded with explosives but covered with straw, and blew up close to the police station. 

Iraq

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