Iraqi police battled with and killed two gunmen in the oil-rich northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk early today, a day after a suicide bomber killed 23 people and wounded nearly 100 after striking outside a bank as elderly people waited to cash their pension cheques.

A suicide bomber wearing a belt packed with explosives blew himself up outside a bank in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk today, killing 23 people, including pensioners waiting for checks and child street vendors.