Car explosion kills one, wounds another on Sulaymaniyah-Dukan road

SULAYMANIYAH — An explosion killed one person and seriously wounded another on the Sulaymaniyah-Dukan road Wednesday evening, with conflicting accounts emerging over whether the blast was caused by a drone strike or an accident.

The explosion occurred at approximately 7:40 p.m. near Hasan Tapa village, between the town of Pirmagrun and the Kalawanan checkpoint. A Land Cruiser caught fire after the blast.

Security forces closed the Sulaymaniyah-Dukan road at Pirmagrun, causing significant traffic congestion.

Kamaran Osman of Community Peacemaker Teams told 964media the vehicle “was targeted by a drone” and that those inside held Iranian identification documents.

However, a source inside the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan told 964media the vehicle belonged to the group and that the explosion was most likely caused by the car overturning, detonating explosives inside.

A Komala press relations official told 964media that a statement would be released “soon”.

Sirwan Sarhad, district administrator of Dukan, told 964media that two people were inside the vehicle — one died and the other was wounded. Asked whether it was a drone strike, he said: “We don’t know yet […] Security forces are investigating to clarify the details.”

He noted the vehicle did not overturn but exploded directly while moving and caught fire.

Community Peacemaker Teams is an international human rights organization with a team based in the Kurdistan Region that monitors cross-border military activity.

This article has been updated