Baghdad, July 12, (RHC), – The death toll in a suicide bomb attack in Kirkuk, Iraq, has risen to 28, a health official has said.

The explosion on Friday night targeted civilians who had fled to the city from other war torn areas of Iraq. At least six women and four children are among the dead.

The suicide bomb blast ignited a nearby fuel tanker, causing severe burns to many of the victims. Mohammed described the attack as the most severe in recent times.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Human Rights Watch (UNHRW) claimed that Iraqi security forces and government-affiliated Shiite Muslim militias have executed at least 255 Sunni Muslim prisoners since 9 June in reaction against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) rebel group's capturing of Mosul, Iraq's second biggest city.

The report states that the killings took place in Mosul, Tal Afar, Baquba, Jumarkhe, Rawa and Hilla as Iraqi forces retreated from the ISIL-led rebellion of Sunni tribes in the region.

Joe Stork, the UNHRW's deputy Middle East director, said: "While the world rightly denounces the atrocious acts of ISIS (ISIL), it should not turn a blind eye to sectarian killing sprees by government and pro-government forces."

On June 10, ISIL forces seized the city of Mosul and the surrounding area, later breaking through the border with Syria in order to join their fellow fighters in northern Syria. They later declare in independence of an 'Islamic State' and elected Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as leader.