A vehicle explosion caused by a planted IED bomb killed an officer of the Kurdistan Region Security Council and wounded two children and two women on Friday in Erbil, according to a statement from the General Directorate of Counter Terrorism (CTD).

The Kurdistan Region Security Council described the incident as a terror attack, adding, “An explosive device planted on a car detonated in the Sarbasti neighbourhood of Erbil, leading to the death of Hawkar Abdullah Rasul, an officer at the Kurdistan Region Security Council”.

Hawkar Rasul was an officer in the Kurdish Counter-Terrorism Group (CTG) services in the city of Sulaymaniyah recently, but was moved to Erbil due to a conflict inside the CTG, CTD added.

Rasul was a former colonel in the PUK’s Counter-Terrorism Group, responsible for Erbil and Nineveh, and was close to the PUK’s former co-president, Lahur Sheikh Jangi and former head of CTG, Azhi Amin.

Erbil’s Asayish has announced that their forces have arrested two suspects in connection with the explosion, according to Erbil-based Rudaw news agency and identified them as Rasul’s own bodyguards.