A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle in the heart of the usually secure Iraqi Kurdish regional capital Arbil on Wednesday

A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle in the heart of the usually secure Iraqi Kurdish regional capital Arbil on Wednesday, a spokesman said.

The bomber hit the main checkpoint on the way to the provincial government headquarters in the northern city just before noon (0900 GMT), provincial council spokesman Hamza Hamed said.

Hamed said there were casualties in the attack, but the number was not immediately clear.

The Wednesday bombing is the worst attack to hit Arbil since September 29, 2013, when militants struck the headquarters of the asayesh security forces in the city, killing seven people and wounding more than 60.

In that attack, the asayesh said a suicide bomber detonated explosives at the entrance to their headquarters, after which they killed four more would-be bombers before a fifth blew up an ambulance rigged with explosives.