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Turkish diplomat among 3 shot dead in Iraq’s Arbil: police
ARBIL, Iraq, July 17, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – At least one gunman killed three
people including the Turkish vice consul to Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region
in an attack Wednesday in the regional capital of Arbil, a police source told
AFP.
“Three people, including the Turkish vice consul, were killed in an armed
attack targeting the consul and the consulate’s employees in a restaurant in
Arbil,” the source said, adding the attackers had fled the scene.
Witnesses in the city said checkpoints had been quickly set up inside and
around the neighbourhood of Ainkawa, which hosts numerous restaurants and the
Turkish consulate.
Turkey confirmed that an “employee” at its Arbil consulate was killed in a
shooting.
The attack was not immediately claimed.
Turkey is waging a major military offensive in Iraq’s mountainous northern
region to root out pockets of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The PKK, seen as a “terrorist” group by Turkey, the United States and the
European Union, has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984
and operates rear bases in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region.
Several rocket attacks have targeted diplomatic missions in Iraq in recent
months, including rockets near the US and UK embassies in Baghdad’s “Green
Zone.”
The US in May ordered all non-essential personnel of its Baghdad embassy
and Arbil consulate to leave the country.
And in June, protesters gathered outside the Bahraini embassy in Baghdad,
Authorities in Iraq, which is witnessing a period of relative calm since
declaring victory against the Islamic State group in 2017, have pledged to
protect embassies.
BSS/AFP/BZC/1940HRS