ISIL militants have killed a senior Kurdish commander and five other fighters after launching a major offensive in the Iraqi province of Kirkuk.<br /><br /> Fighting erupted around midnight as the insurgents launched mortars at Kurdish peshmerga positions in four districts southwest of the city.<br /><br /> An officer told Reuters news agency they had recaptured one district but that clashes were ongoing in the other three.<br /><br /> Heavily armed suicide bombers reportedly tried to take up positions in a hotel, but were killed by security forces.<br /><br /> More than 70 were reportedly wounded in the clashes.<br /><br /> ISIL militants, who now control large swathes of the north and west of Iraq have held areas on the outskirts of Kirkuk but have never taken the city.<br /><br /> Meanwhile, security sources said at least 18 people were killed in twin bombings in downtown Baghdad.<br /><br /> A suicide blast at a busy market went off, followed by a car bomb which killed many people who went to help those injured in the initial explosion.<br /><br /> Bombings by
