"A car bomb blast outside the main hospital in Kirkuk killed a woman and wounded 22 other people," said Major Salam Zanganeh of the provincial police.

"Among the wounded were a baby of about a month old, a police captain and another policeman," he added.

Kirkuk Hospital's Dr Nabil Hamdi confirmed that a body of a woman had been received while 22 wounded people had been admitted, with three in serious condition.

Zanganeh said the blast had caused damage to the hospital and several

nearby buildings.The oil rich, multi ethnic and mutli religious province of Kirkuk and its eponymous capital are especially violence prone.