Bomb blast injures Peshmerga soldier in Iraq’s Erbil

BAGHDAD

A Kurdish Peshmerga soldier was injured in a bomb explosion in Erbil in northern Iraq on Sunday, according to a security officer.

"A device exploded targeting a car driven by a member of the Peshmerga forces in Koji Hajri area near the border with Turkey,” Shakhwan Abdul Hamid, an officer with the Internal Security Forces in Erbil, told Anadolu Agency.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the officer said the PKK terrorist group is known to be present in the area where the explosion took place.

He said local authorities have launched an investigation to uncover the perpetrators of the attack.

For his part, Ihsan Jalabi, the director of Erbil’s Sidakan subdistrict, said the PKK terror group was responsible for the attack.

"PKK gunmen planted the explosive device in the area recently," Jalabi told local Rudaw TV, without providing further details.

Iraqi authorities are yet to issue an official statement regarding the incident.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar