US admits bomb blast at consulate in Kurdish capital

The Islamic State Saturday circulated on its social networks Saturday the disclosure of a car bomb attack Friday on the US Consulate in Irbil, the capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdish republic of Iraq. Four people were killed and 18 injured. The next day, the State Department in Washington came forward with the report, adding that no staff members were hurt.  DEBKAfile: Its reluctance was understandable. This was the first time that ISIS had managed to break through the heavy defenses surrounding the Kurdish capital and then penetrate the fortified consulate compound, the seat of the US military headquarters running the American air strike campaign against the Islamists in northern Iraq.