Two bomb blasts injured at least 12 people on the outskirts of the disputed northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk Thursday morning, police told the German Press Agency dpa.
The first blast targeted retired police officers waiting to receive their monthly pensions and benefits at a facility on the edge of the city, injuring five, four of them seriously, police Lieutenant Colonel Kamel Mohammed told dpa.
The second blast injured seven police officers patrolling the city centre in a convoy, he said.
The police officer added that insurgents had fired rockets at US military near the city, but that he did not know the extent of the damage, if any.
The US military could not immediately confirm the rocket attack.
Kirkuk has long been the focus of a bitter political dispute between Iraqi Kurds, many of whom hope to make the city the capital of a future independent state, and Iraqi Arab and Turkmen politicians, who view Kirkuk and its nearby oilfields as integral parts of Iraq.
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