MOSCOW, August 23 (RIA Novosti) - Twenty people died and 65 were wounded in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, located 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad, after three car bombs exploded on Saturday, Agence France-Presse reported Saturday citing a senior police officer and a doctor.
Two bombs exploded near buildings used as observation positions by security forces, and the third struck the entrance to a market.
According to AFP, a police colonel said that the market blast may have been a suicide car bombing, while the doctor said that three security forces members were among the dead.
Similar terrorist attacks were carried out in Kirkuk in early August, killing nine and injuring dozens.
Security threats have been on the rise in Iraq since June, as the Islamic State (IS) militants launched an offensive in Iraq, seizing large parts of the country.
The IS, previously known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS or ISIL), an Al-Qaeda offshoot, was previously fighting against Syrian President Bashar Assad.
In late June, the group declared itself a caliphate and announced the group’s rebranding as the Islamic State.
In August, the United States authorized airstrikes to help Bagdad fight against the terrorists who made hundreds of Iraqis flee.
