Police in Iraq say a car bomb has exploded near the U.S. consulate in the northern town of Kirkuk, killing two people.
Officials say the blast happened late Saturday. No Americans were wounded in the explosion.
Kirkuk has long been spared most of the violence common in other parts of the country, but recently has been the scene of several car bomb attacks.
Saturday, the U.S. military said 37,000 American troops will be repositioned to Baghdad in an attempt to reduce the sectarian violence plaguing the Iraqi capital.
The city has seen a significant increase in sectarian violence between Shi'ites and Sunni Arabs since the February bombing of a Shi'ite mosque in Samarra.
Attacks in recent weeks have damaged the authority of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's embattled national unity government.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP.