"At around 7:45 a.m. two gunmen approached the entrance of the governorate and opened fire at the guards. They managed to enter and now they are on the third floor," said Erbil’s Deputy Governor, Tahir Abdullah.

"The motive behind the attack is unclear," the official added.

The reports specified that the group of attackers included three armed men.

A few hours later Reuters reported, citing a security source that one of the militants had carried out a suicide bombing in a government building. There was no immediate data on casualties, but the report mentioned two policemen, injured by the assailants.

However, according to the network Al-Arabiya, the blast was a part of a Special Forces operation. The media outlet reported that the Kurdish soldiers had eliminated two attackers and freed two hostages in the building; one of them was critically wounded. After that the security forces announced they killed the third militant, ending the operation.

According to the governor Nawzad Hadi, one worker was killed during the incident, Sputnik reported.

Kurdish officials, commenting on the attack, stated they suspected the militants who had assaulted the government building belonged to the terrorist group IS.

Reporter’s code: 50101