A suicide bomber blew himself up at a restaurant in a Kurdish city near Iraq's border with Iran on Thursday, killing 15 people and wounding 15 others.

The bomber struck at lunch time when the restaurant was crowded with customers. The attack comes amid rising ethnic tensions following last weekend's elections.

Hundreds of Kurds complained on election day that they couldn't find their names on voter registration lists.

Like some 40 towns and cities in Iraq, the city is disputed by competing ethnic interests following the US-led invasion.