Iraqi city of Kirkuk hit by car bombs

Three bombs targeting Iraqi security forces exploded near government buildings in the centre
of Iraq's disputed northern oil city of Kirkukon Thursday, killing at least 25 people and injuring dozens of others.

One of the bombs targeted the head of the city’s anti-terrorism unit. He survived unharmed, but four of his body guards were killed.

Kirkuk has long been considered a possible flash-point of violence, since it contains a mix of Arabs, Kurds, and Turkmen, and sits on top of some of Iraq’s richest oil reserves. It is at the heart of a long dispute between Iraq's central government and the semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

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