KIRKUK, Iraq
Two Kurdish fighters were killed and five others were wounded after a mine blast struck the convoy of Peshmerga troops in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Sunday, local sources told the Anadolu Agency.
The blast marks the first attack since Peshmerga forces reportedly took control of the city after Iraqi army's withdrawal following advances by Sunni insurgents led by the militant Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.
Meanwhile, security sources said the Iraqi army and Turkmen tribal fighters withdrew from all parts of the city of Tal Afar except a local airport.
ISIL, which already controls parts of Syria, has extended its reach into Iraq since June 10, when it seized Iraq's second-largest city Mosul and soon afterwards took near-complete control of the cities of Tikrit and Tal Afar.
ISIL has seized four more towns in Iraq's Anbar province on Sunday.
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