Two police officers were also killed and five wounded in a strike on a Mosul police station that the interior ministry also attributed to a US-Israeli attack.

Since the Middle East war began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, Iraq has been increasingly drawn into a conflict it had sought to avoid at all costs.

Pro-Iran Iraqi armed groups have carried out drone and rocket attacks against multiple US targets, including the embassy in Baghdad.

Strikes have also targeted bases of Hashed al-Shaabi, also known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), integrated into the regular army but containing some pro-Iran factions that have acted independently in the past. The PMF has previously blamed these attacks on the US.

Three PMF fighters were killed and four wounded, according to the group, in the "treacherous Zionist-US attack" near Kirkuk city's international airport.

A security official said six Iraqi soldiers were also wounded in the attack, which they said occurred near Iraqi air force and special forces bases.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible.

Relations between Washington and Baghdad have been strained as the Middle East war has gone on, particularly after a strike on a medical clinic in western Iraq that killed seven members of the security forces.

Iraq has not officially blamed the United States, but did summon the country's charge d'affaires over the strike.

Washington has strongly denied targeting Iraqi security forces.

Later on Saturday, officials confirmed the Mosul police station strike that killed two officers. The PMF said the station was jointly used by its forces.

The violence comes just a day after Washington and Baghdad said they would "intensify cooperation" to prevent attacks and ensure Iraqi territory is not used to launch assaults against US facilities.

As well as strikes against pro-Iranian groups, pro-Tehran factions claim daily drone and rocket attacks against the US presence in Iraq and elsewhere in the region.

For the first time in ten days, two drones targeted the US embassy in capital Baghdad late Saturday, before being shot down outside the Green Zone.

Following the last attack on March 18, the influential pro-Iranian armed group Kataeb Hezbollah said it would pause such attacks for five days, twice extending.

- Erbil explosions -

In the north, a drone targeted the second home of the leader of autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, Nechirvan Barzani, with Baghdad promising to investigate.

French leader Emmanuel Macron condemned the attack, as did Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

An AFP journalist heard two explosions near Erbil's international airport late Saturday, with air defences activating. An explosion was also heard in the morning.

The city is home to a major US consulate complex, and the airport hosts military advisers with the US-led anti-jihadist international coalition.

A drone had also targeted the US diplomatic centre in the Baghdad airport overnight, a security official told AFP, though they were unable to provide details on any damage.