Car bombs kill nine in Iraq

Six car bombs in a northern Iraqi city have killed nine people and wounded 79, officials said.

Two police officers say the bombs, all parked cars, went off simultaneously this morning in and around Kirkuk, home to a mix of ethnic groups with competing claims.

Three bombs exploded in the centre – one in an Arab district, one in a Kurdish one, and one in a Turkomen district. The rest went off outside. A detailed casualty breakdown was not available.

Bombings are common in Iraq, most blamed on al Qaida militants. But six at once is an unusually large number and multiple ethnic groups are rarely targeted simultaneously.

Senior health official Sidiq Omar Rasool confirmed the casualty figures.