A suicide bomber driving a car packed with explosives blew himself up near a Kurdish security forces patrol killing at least eight of them early on Sunday, police said.

The attack took place in the center of the ethnically mixed town of Tuz Khurmato, 170 km (105 miles) north of the capital Baghdad, in a notoriously unstable region over which both the central government and autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan claim jurisdiction.

No group claimed responsibility but suicide bombings are the trademark of al Qaeda, which has been regaining momentum in its insurgency against the Shi'ite-led Baghdad government.