The region's Asayesh police force said it was investigating the attack in the city of Dohuk and could not yet determine whether it was a "terrorist" act.

A Syrian suspect was arrested, a top government official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Kurdish media said the attacker used a cleaver.

According to a police source, the attack took place in a market and targeted the Akitu springtime celebrations observed by members of the Assyrian community to mark the first day of their calendar year.

"A 65-year-old woman was hit on the head" and suffered a haemorrhage that did not require surgery, Dohuk medical authorities said, adding that her condition was "stable".

Another 25-year-old man suffered a minor scalp wound, the authorities added.

Dohuk governor Ali Tatar told a press conference that "our security forces arrested the suspect... the investigation is ongoing".

Iraq's Christian population plunged from some 1.5 million before the fall of Saddam Hussein in the early 2000s to about 400,000, the majority having fled successive bouts of violence in the country.