Control over oil-rich Kirkuk, home to a mix of Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen, has stoked ethnic tensions [AFP]

The bomber detonated a suicide vest in a car market on Saturday, Major-General Torhan Abdul-Rahman, deputy chief of Kirkuk police, said.

The attack targeted a leader of a group fighting Al-Qaeda in the town of Khalis in the central province of Diyala, Abdul Rahman said. 

The leader of the group, Abdel Karim Ahmed Mindil, was inside the showroom and was killed in the blast along with four others, he added.

The attack took place at around 7.00 pm (1600GMT) in the compound of the showroom in southern Kirkuk, Rahman said.

Control over the oil-rich city, which is home to a mix of Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen, has stoked ethnic tensions as Iraq prepares for provincial elections that the United States and United Nations have been hoping would take place this fall.

Iraq's minority Kurds want to ensure the elections, which may be delayed substantially due to political disagreement over Kirkuk, do not weaken their control of the city.

Kurds see Kirkuk as their ancestral home and hope to make it part of their autonomous northern region.

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