Iraq currently produces only a fraction of its vast reserves, the third-largest in the world and among the cheapest to produce, and international oil firms have been positioning for years to gain access.

The attack, a day after more than 100 people were killed in the deadliest suspected suicide raid since the Taliban were overthrown in 2001, comes as some Western politicians call for a stronger resolve to stop Afghanistan sliding back into anarchy.

BRUSSELS – Spain, grappling with its own separatist movements, said on Monday it would not recognize the secession of the ethnic Albanian territory of Kosovo from Serbia.