Turkish diplomat killed in Iraq shooting

At least three people including a Turkish diplomat have been killed in a shooting in the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Irbil, Kurdish security officials and Turkey's foreign ministry say.

Unidentified gunmen opened fire at a restaurant where Turkish diplomats were dining, two Kurdish security officials said, in a relatively rare attack in the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

The Kurdish officials and Iraqi state television said all three killed were Turkish diplomats and that the Turkish deputy consul to the Kurdistan region was among them.

Turkey's foreign ministry said one Turkish consulate employee was killed in the attack.

Kurdish security forces sealed off the area and were searching for the attackers, the Kurdish security sources said.

One witness said one attacker entered the restaurant and started shooting before he fled in a car that was waiting for him outside.