Baghdad, Nov 19 (IANS): At least four people were killed and more than six others wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the provincial government building in the city of Erbil, capital of the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan in northern Iraq Wednesday, a Kurdish security source said.

The attack occurred around noon when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden car after guards at the entrance of the provincial government building prevented him from crossing the checkpoint, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

"Two policemen and two civilians were killed and six people were wounded, including a policeman, in the blast which also set fire to 10 cars and damaged nearby buildings," the source said.

Kurdistan region has been largely safe during the past years since the US-led invasion to Iraq in 2003, despite the recent threats of the Islamic State militant group to overrun the region after it managed to seize swathes of adjacent Sunni Arab provinces over five months ago.