A car bomb killed one soldier and injured at least two in a northern Iraqi town near the oil-rich city of Kirkuk on Wednesday, the military and a security source said.

The military said in a statement that a member of the security forces was killed. A security source told Reuters that at least two others were wounded.

A suicide bomber drove the rigged car into a security checkpoint at the entrance of the town of Riyadh, 40 kilometers southwest of Kirkuk, the military said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but ISIS extremists are active in the area.

Iraq declared victory over ISIS in December 2017 after two years of fighting. However, the group has continued to carry out insurgent-style attacks on security forces across the country.

There have been at least two other car bomb attacks in January so far.

Reuters