Gunmen in northern Iraq where remnants of the Islamic State group are active blew up a vehicle carrying policeman before opening fire killing nine, police sources said Sunday. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, one of the deadliest in Iraq in recent months. The bomb blast in the Kirkuk area hit a vehicle transporting members of Iraq’s federal police. It was followed by “a direct attack with small arms” near the village of Shalal al-Matar, a federal police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity, attributing the assault to IS. “An assailant has been killed and we are…