At least three Turkish diplomats were killed in a shooting that took place in the Iraqi Kurdish capital Erbil, two Kurdish security officials said.
According to sources, unknown gunmen opened fire at a restaurant where the diplomats were dinning, Reuters reported.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said that an employee of the Turkish Consulate General was killed in an armed attack in Erbil "Today, in the second half of the day, an employee of our consulate in Erbil died as a result of a sneaking attack. He was outside the embassy building. We are making efforts jointly with the Iraqi authorities to find the perpetrators of the crime as soon as possible," the statement says.
Earlier, a source in an Iraqi security agency said that the Turkish deputy consul general in Iraq and two other diplomats have been killed in the city of Erbil as a result of an armed attack.
"An unknown person opened fire from a firearm on a group of employees from the Turkish Consulate in Erbil in one of the city's restaurants, as a result, the deputy consul general of Turkey and two of his accompanying diplomats were killed," Sputnik cited the source as saying.
The scene of the incident is on lockdown, while security and emergency services representatives are responding to the incident.
