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Series of blasts in Iraq’s Kirkuk kill 6, wounds 30

Details: Category: News; Created on Sunday, 16 December 2012 20:49; Written by AL ARABIYA - AFP

roadside bombs strike Iraqs Kirkuk . AFPBombings against two Shiite places of worship in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk killed 6 people Sunday, while an attack on a Kurdish political office left two dead, police and doctors said.

Three roadside bombs exploded near a Shi'ite mosque in the city, and a car bomb and a roadside bomb detonated near a Kirkuk television channel, according to police officials.

Omar Sideeq, head of Kirkuk's health department, said six people were killed and 30 wounded. But a police official said 10 people had been killed in the attacks. No-one claimed responsibility.

The officer who spoke to AFP said the attacks took place at around 1630 GMT as a doctor from Kirkuk general hospital confirmed the toll.

Oil-rich and ethnically mixed Kirkuk is part of a swathe of territory in north Iraq that the autonomous Kurdistan region wants to incorporate, despite strong objections by Baghdad.

Earlier on Sunday, a car bomb exploded at the local headquarters of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan or PUK party in the province of Diyalah, after a number of people seeking to join the Kurdish security forces had gathered.

The blast in Jalawla, which like Kirkuk lies in disputed territory, killed two recruits and wounded 13, a police officer and a doctor at the local Hospital said.

The dispute over territory in northern Iraq is the greatest threat to the country's long-term stability, diplomats and officials say. Ties between Baghdad and Kurdistan are also marred by disputes over oil and power-sharing.

While violence has decreased significantly from its peak in 2006-2007, attacks still occur almost every day across the Middle East country.