June 30 (Bloomberg) -- A car bomb in the northern Iraqi oil hub of Kirkuk killed at least 41 people and wounded 120 others on the day U.S. forces withdrew from all the Middle Eastern country’s cities.

The blast occurred in the Aruba neighborhood, said Major James Rawlinson, spokesman at the U.S. encampment located in the Kirkuk Regional Air Base. Rawlinson said Iraqi police, who are on the scene, provided the casualty figures.

The city of Kirkuk is populated by Iraqi Arabs and Turkmen and Kurdish minorities. Tensions between the Arabs and Turkmen on one side and the Kurds on the other have simmered for the past six years over domination of land and Kirkuk’s surrounding oil fields. The region produces 25 per cent of Iraq’s petroleum exports, according to the U.S. State Department.

U.S. troops pulled out of Iraq’s cities today under an agreement signed between the Bush Administration and the Iraqi government. In the two weeks leading up to the withdrawal, 250 Iraqis died in bomb blasts detonated in several cities. The U.S. is scheduled to draw down forces from its current troop strength of 131,000 between now and the end of 2011, when all U.S. forces are set to leave the country.

To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Williams in Kirkuk at dwilliams41@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 30, 2009 12:36 EDT