A Japanese man was temporarily detained as a suspicious person by authorities in the Kurdish autonomous zone in northern Iraq in early March in the third such case since February, the Japanese Embassy in Iraq said Wednesday.

The man has already been released and left Iraq following several days of detention near Irbil, a major city in the Kurdish region, after entering Iraq via Turkey.

Japan's Foreign Ministry said last month two other nationals had separately been detained before being released.

The Kurdish authorities have become vigilant toward foreigners traveling to areas controlled by Islamic State militants, according to the ministry.