ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Just a day after a car-bomb attack in Erbil killed five people and wounded 29, life was back to normal just meters away from the scene, with shoppers and shopkeepers going about their business as usual.

“Thank God we are safe and can continue to work. We don’t plan on closing our shops,” said Ismail, working at a shop just 100 meters from the Governorate Office where Wednesday’s attack took place.

“Those responsible should know that these acts do not impact us,” another local worker told Rudaw. “We are shop owners, and even if these acts happen right next to us we will still continue to work,” he added.

Many shops remained open on Wednesday after the noon-day attack, with vendors saying they did not want to give into the goal of the attackers, which was to strike fear among the Kurdish population.

The attack, which may have been carried by a female suicide bomber who crashed a compound gate at the Governorate Office before detonating her explosives-laden vehicle, was the first serious bombing in the Kurdistan Region in more than a year.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has vowed to intensify security after the attack.

Rudaw