ARBIL: The United Nations warned Tuesday Iraq could spin out of control after a rocket attack on the Kurdish regional capital Arbil killed a foreign contractor and wounded several Iraqis and foreigners.

The attack late Monday was the first time in nearly two months that Western military or diplomatic installations have been targeted in Iraq after a series of similar incidents blamed on pro-Iranian Shiite factions last year.

The United Nations' top representative in Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, slammed the attack on Tuesday morning.

"Such heinous, reckless acts pose grave threats to stability," she posted on Twitter, calling for "restraint" and cooperation between Baghdad and Arbil on a probe.

On Monday evening, more than a dozen 107mm rockets -- the same size used in attacks in Baghdad -- were fired from around eight kilometres (five miles) west of Arbil.

They appeared to be targeted at a military complex in Arbil airport that hosts foreign troops deployed as part of a US-led coalition helping Iraq fight militants since 2014.

But they struck all over the northwest of the city, including residential neighbourhoods where they wounded five civilians, the Arbil health directorate told AFP.

Coalition spokesman Wayne Marotto said three rockets hit Arbil airport, killing one foreign civilian contractor who is not an American national.

Another nine people were wounded, including eight civilian contractors and one US soldier, he said.

Arbil airport remained closed to all flights on Tuesday morning as authorities assessed the damage, its director Ahmad Hoshyar told AFP.