At least eight police officers have reportedly been killed in a bombing near the Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Sunday.

A bomb struck a police convoy near the village of Al Safra about 30km south-west of Kirkuk in the governorate's Riyadh district, police sources told Reuters. Two others are in critical condition.

The bombing is believed to be an ISIS attack, police told AFP, which placed the initial toll at seven dead.

The bomb was followed by a "direct attack with small arms", a police source told the agency.

A police major and several of his colleagues were killed in the attack, said military spokesman Yehia Rasool.

It comes just days after three police officers and a civilian were killed in Tarmiyah district, north of Baghdad, in twin roadside bombs blamed on ISIS. The district is often attacked by ISIS militants.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani has ordered roads to be inspected and an investigation to be opened into the attack, said Mr Rasool.

ISIS routinely carries out attacks against police and other security forces in Iraq.

Riyadh district has been attacked several times by militants, lying close to the Hamrin Mountains, which has sheltered remnants of the group since its defeat in Mosul in 2017. Several policemen were killed in string of attacks in the district in August.

ISIS militants have taken advantage of a security vacuum in disputed areas in the north of the country, void of both Kurdish and federal security forces and often attack security forces and local villagers.

Kirkuk Governor Rakan Al Jabouri said the attack will elicit "immediate retaliation" from security forces and called on units to be deployed to vulnerable and "empty" areas, referring to territory in the security vacuum.

Several attacks have taken place in Kirkuk province, which lies in the disputed territories. Counter-terror raids are often conducted in Kirkuk and Diyala province.

Four Iraqi soldiers were killed in an attack on a desert outpost in Kirkuk last month.

ISIS members have also been arrested in urban areas, including in the Kurdish north, and in the city of Sulaymaniyah.