KIRKUK, Iraq, (AFP) — An Al-Qaeda militant has been killed together with his two children when a car bomb he was making at his home exploded near the northern Iraq city of Kirkuk, police said on Tuesday.

“An Al-Qaeda terrorist, Mohammed Nussayef Jasim al-Hamdani, was killed while trying to fit a bomb inside a vehicle at his home,” a police official in Kirkuk said.

“His two children, aged 10 and 11, also were killed, part of his house was destroyed, and 20 of his neighbours were wounded,” he added, saying the incident occurred before midnight Monday west of Kirkuk city.

Hamdani had been in detention on suspicion of terrorism, but was recently released due to “insufficient evidence against him,” the official said.

He asked not to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

On Sunday, an anti-terrorism official said that Iraqi security forces had smashed an Al-Qaeda network allegedly responsible for more than 100 killings in Baghdad.

Attacks by Sunni Al-Qaeda militants and Shiite insurgents, that the United States says are backed by Iran, are blamed for most of the daily gun and bomb attacks across the country.

The multi-ethnic and multi-religious province of Kirkuk, whose capital shares the same name, is especially prone to violence.

June was the deadliest month in Iraq so far this year, with 271 people killed in attacks including 155 civilians, 77 policemen and 39 soldiers, according to a government count.