Several car bombs have exploded in northern Iraq’s usually peaceful Kurdish autonomous region, triggering a deadly gun battle between security forces and militants.

Authorities said at least two car bombs were involved in Sunday’s attack near the Interior Ministry of Iraqi Kurdistan in the provincial capital of Irbil. Provincial Governor Nawzad Hadi told VOA security forces shot and killed four assailants, while another person was killed in the incident.

It was the first major bomb attack in Iraqi Kurdistan in at least six years. Hadi said it had the “finger prints” of al-Qaida. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Iraqi Kurdistan has an autonomous government with its own security forces, who have largely shielded the region from terrorist and sectarian attacks that have plagued the rest of Iraq in recent years. [Read More]

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Source: VOA News: War and Conflict