The improvised explosive device went off near a mosque in a crowded market area in the evening, a peak shopping time in the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. A second explosive device went off near a coffee shop, injuring one man.
The third explosion occurred in Mosalla neighborhood near the Turkmen Front headquarters.
The Iraqi prime minister’s office security issues confirmed the three attacks in Kirkuk. “Because of the explosion in Quds Street, a woman was killed and 14 injured. In the second explosion one was killed. The third attack was without any casualties,” read a statement from the PM’s office.
A missile was also fired at a school but there were no casualties, a military statement said.
Tensions are high in Kirkuk, where the results of a parliamentary election in May are being disputed by the Turkmen and Arab communities after a Kurdish party appeared to have won.
The central government recaptured the city and its oilfields along with other areas in northern Iraq claimed by both Baghdad and the Kurds following an offensive launched in retaliation for a Kurdish independence referendum.
