Danish cyclist dies in Iraqi Kurdistan landmine blast

A Danish cyclist died and another was severely injured on Thursday after the two set off a landmine in a part of Iraqi Kurdistan caught up in the war between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The two Danes were cycling in the north of Duhok province when the homemade bomb went off, an interior ministry official from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) told The New Arab's sister site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Volunteers took the injured cyclists to hospital in the subdistrict of Kani Masi where one died on Thursday night, said the official who did not want to be named. The other was still in intensive care as of Friday morning.

The official said the mine that killed the cyclist was most likely planted by the PKK, a Kurdish rebel group fighting Turkey from its base in the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan. Mines planted by the rebel group have caused other civilian casualties in recent months, the official added.

The New Arab contacted the Danish foreign ministry for more information on the incident. They responded by confirming that one of its citizens had died in the area.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Citizen Service can confirm that a Danish citizen has passed away in northern Iraq," the Danish foreign ministry said in a statement sent to The New Arab.

The ministry "is in contact with the relatives and provides consular assistance in the case", the statement added.

Turkey last month launched Operation Claw-Lock, its latest incursion into Iraq against the PKK.

Denmark's foreign ministry advises against all non-essential travel to Iraqi Kurdistan, "due to the risk of terrorism and kidnapping".

It advises against all travel to the rest of Iraq.