Bombs went off during a local football game in Iraq's restive Diyala province July 27, killing at least four people, security officials said.
"Three improvised explosive devices went off during the final of a local amateur cup" in Abu Saida, about 75 kilometers northeast of Baghdad, a colonel in the provincial operations said.
At least 10 people were also wounded in the attack. Ambulances rushed the injured to the nearest hospitals, while police
forces cordoned off the explosion site.
Some of the football players were believed to be among the casualties, which dpa said were as high as 16 people dead and 35 wounded.
"The bombs were planted behind a goal and it seems they were detonated remotely from a nearby orchard," said a spectator at the football game. "The blasts sparked mayhem; they have imposed a curfew now."
The area is mostly under the control of Shi'ite militias.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State has carried out a string of deadly bombings in Diyala lately.