At least six dead in Kirkuk blasts as Iraq re-opens borders

Two blasts hit a crowded market area in the northern city of Kirkuk on Saturday, killing at least six people and wounding 32, police said. The first explosion came from a car rigged with explosives and was followed by a suicide attacker who drove a bomb-laden car into a busy area, sources said.

The blasts also damaged about 20 shops.

Meanwhile, Iraq is to re-open its borders with Iran and Syria, closed earlier this week in the initial stages of a security operation, a spokesman for the officer overseeing the plan said on Saturday. “Seventy-two hours have passed and the borders will gradually re-open, but it will take 60 days for the border crossings to return to normal,” Brigadier Qassim Moussawi said, according to Reuters. According to him, the borders will be open for a limited number of hours each day.