A former Iraqi Kurdish intelligence official was killed in a car explosion

A security source confirmed to Reuters and the Kurdish TV channel Rudaw that a senior official in the intelligence apparatus linked to a powerful Iraqi Kurdish party was killed, on Sunday evening, in a car explosion he was traveling in in the city of Dohuk in the Kurdistan region.

The official, Muhammad Mirza Sindi, was a former senior officer in the Parastin intelligence agency, which is affiliated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party, one of two parties that govern the region in northern Iraq.

Video clips published by local media showed smoke rising from the wreckage of a car.

The security source said that the incident is being investigated, adding that the cause of the explosion is not yet known.

Reports had stated that the accident occurred as a result of the car colliding with a landmine.