Turkey’s Mosul consul’s convoy attacked

MOSUL – Anadolu Agency

The attack came amid a period of renewed violence in recent months in the country. This file photo shows a member of the Iraqi security forces standing guard at the site of a car bomb attack in Baghdad May 23. REUTERS Photo

A convoy carrying Turkey’s consul to Mosul, Öztürk Yılmaz, was targeted by a bomb late May 24.

The convoy was en route to Arbil when a remote-controlled roadside bomb was detonated in the Maliye district to the east of the flashpoint city, three kilometers from the consulate building.

No casualties were reported, but armored vehicles in the convoy were damaged.

Security officials said the attackers had targeted Yılmaz’s car but the bomb struck the car in front, damaging only the windows of the car carrying the Turkish consul general.

The head of Mosul police said an investigation was underway to find the attackers. Yılmaz’s convoy was attacked before, in September 2013. No casualties were reported in that attack.

The Foreign Ministry has released a statement on the attack, saying that officials at the Consulate General of Mosul had been attacked four times in the last two years.

“[Our] Baghdad Embassy and Consulate General in Basra were also targeted. It is worrying that none of the perpetrators of the attacks have been captured yet,” the statement said.

The ministry asked Iraqi officials to investigate the attack, to find those responsible, and to take all necessary measures to protect Turkish representative offices.