Twelve children killed in Iraq school bomb blast

Iraq is being rocked by the deadliest wave of bloodshed to hit the country in five years (Getty)

Car bombs have struck an elementary school and a police station in northern Iraq, killing 12 children, officials have said.

Tal Afar mayor Abdel-Aal al-Obeidi says the twin blasts hit the nearby village of Qabak on Sunday morning, the start of the local work week. The day saw a total body count of at least 33.

Tal Afar is 260 miles northwest of Baghdad, not far from the Syrian border.

He says eight of the dead are children killed in the school, which partially collapsed in the blast, and that others may be trapped inside.

The other two killed are policemen. He says at least 70 people are wounded.

Iraq is being rocked by the deadliest wave of bloodshed to hit the country in five years.

AP