Up to 25 feared dead in Iraq suicide blasts

Up to 25 people are feared dead after two suicide bombers struck a Shiite mosque and a nearby police station near the Iraqi city of Kirkuk today.

The simultaneous explosions occurred at about 2pm local time in the predominantly Shiite town of Dakok, about 30 miles south of Kirkuk, said police Brig. Gen. Burhan Taieb Taha.

He gave the casualty toll as more than 25 people, but said he could not immediately provide a breakdown of how many were killed and how many were wounded amid the chaos.

The two men detonated their explosives vests near a Shiite mosque as Friday prayers were being held, as well as a nearby police station, Taha said.

Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, is the centre of Iraq’s northern oil fields.

Ethnic tensions have risen in the area as Kurds seek to incorporate the city into their self-governing region in northern Iraq. They won a major concession in March when they pressured the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki into approving plans to move thousands of Arabs out of Kirkuk and resettle them elsewhere.