Two explosions rock Iraq's disputed Kirkuk city

Two suicide bomb attacks struck Iraq's Kirkuk city on Sunday, where Baghdad's military recently deployed its troops after weeks of tension with the autonomous Kurdistan government.

The attacks targeted a crowded market and a former police station now used by an Iraqi militia, initial reports said. At least six people were killed in the two blasts that took place 15 minutes apart.

Footage circulating online showed smoke rising from the scene of the attack on Atlas Road, which lies in a busy shopping area. 

The attacks follow weeks of tension between Baghdad and Kirkuk, after a controversial independence referendum vote prompted a diplomatic and military fall-out between the two sides.

Since the vote, Iraqi state forces have reasserted control over swathes of oil-rich Kurdish-held territory, including the large city of Kirkuk and a key border-crossing to Turkey.

Massoud Barzani, the 71-year-old president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, later announced his resignation just days later, in a move welcomed by the international community.