Between 6 and 11 people were killed and over 60 injured in a double suicide-car bombing in Erbil, earlier today.

Some reports speaks of 2 car bombs detonated near the headquarters of Iraqi Kurdish security services, followed by gunfire. SIx peshmerga have died.

A senior security official said the first blast was a suicide car bomb (but possibly the suicide bombers were more than one), while an explosives-rigged ambulance was detonated when people rushed to check for casualties.

Smoke could be seen rising in the air, as ambulances raced to the scene.

While much of Iraq, since the 2003 invasion by U.S. and its allies, is still witnessing virtually daily violence leaving hundreds of dead people each month, the three-province Kurdistan region in the country's north has been relatively quiet.

Sunday's blasts were the first to hit Erbil since May 2007, when a truck bomb exploded near the same asayesh headquarters, killing 14 people and wounding more than 80.

The blasts came a few days after the region's parliamentary elections, which saw the opposition Gorran movement in second place ahead of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's party.