ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – A candidate for Iraq’s upcoming parliamentary elections and member of Baghdad’s Provincial Council was assassinated early Wednesday by an “explosive device” attached to his car in northern Baghdad.

Safaa al-Mashhadani, from the National Sovereignty-Legislation Alliance, a Sunni Arab bloc, was “martyred as a result of a treacherous explosive device that targeted him, along with two of his companions,” Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, from the same alliance, said in a statement. 

Labeling it as a “cowardly terrorist attack,” the speaker said that parliament will form a committee to investigate the attack. 

The attack was carried out in Baghdad’s northern Tarmiyah district, a hotbed of jihadist activity, particularly Islamic State (ISIS) sleeper cells. 

Lawmaker Aisha al-Masari described the attack as a “cowardly crime that brings to mind the dark days of assassinations that Iraqis thought they had overcome forever.”

“The return of the series of assassinations is a warning bell for the security of the capital, Baghdad, after citizens had enjoyed a period of stability and reassurance,” she told The New Region. 

The assassination of Safaa, a candidate for the Sunni Sovereignty Alliance, comes ahead of Iraq’s parliamentary elections, scheduled for November 11. 

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.