At least 3 Turkish diplomats killed in Erbil shooting

At least three Turkish officials have been killed in a shooting in the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Erbil on Wednesday, sources say.

Unidentified gunmen opened fire at a restaurant where Turkish diplomats were dinning, the two Kurdish security officials said, a relatively rare attack in the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

The Kurdish officials and Iraqi state television said all three killed were Turkish diplomats and that the Turkish deputy consul to Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region was among them.

Turkey's foreign ministry said one Turkish consulate employee was killed in the attack.

Kurdish security forces sealed off the area and were searching for the attackers, the Kurdish security sources said.

One witness said that one attacker entered the restaurant and started shooting before he fled in a car that was waiting for him outside.

SS