article_snippet.sent: People gather at the site of a blast in Arbil's Ankawa neighborhood, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, on April 17, 2015 .
article_snippet.sent: Kurdish security forces respond to the large explosion, which can be seen in the distance .
article_snippet.sent: An ISIS-spearheaded offensive overran large areas of Iraq last year, and forces from the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq have battled the jihadists on multiple fronts in the north.
article_snippet.sent: the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq has largely been spared the bombings and shootings that have plagued other parts of Iraq on an almost daily basis.
article_snippet.sent: An ISIS-spearheaded offensive overran large areas of Iraq last year, and forces from the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq have battled the jihadists on multiple fronts in the north .