At least eight policemen killed in explosion near Kirkuk in Iraq

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Those killed near the north-central city were police officers, security sources told Reuters.

At least eight Iraqi federal police officers were killed in a bomb blast near the north-central Iraqi city of Kirkuk, security sources told the Reuters news agency.

Sources said those killed on Sunday were traveling in a convoy when the bomb went off.

The explosion took place near the town of Safra, which is about 30 km (20 miles) southwest of Kirkuk. Two other officers were seriously injured.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but ISIL (ISIS) militants are active in the area.

Kirkuk, located 238 kilometers from Baghdad, was seized from Kurdish forces by Iraqi security forces in 2017.

The Kurdish regional government had taken control of the city after Iraqi forces fled amid the rise of ISIL (ISIS) in the country.

This is a developing story.