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Iraq: Bombs in Tikrit target mosque and hospital | |
(about 9 hours later) | |
At least 21 people have died in twin bomb attacks in the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit. | |
In the first attack, a bomb exploded outside a mosque during Friday prayers, killing 16 people. | |
Hours later, a suicide bomber attacked the hospital where the injured were taken, killing another five. | |
Scores more were wounded. On Thursday, bombings in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, killed at least six people. | |
'Canister' bomb | 'Canister' bomb |
The first blast in Tikrit happened at about 1245 local time (0945 GMT) on Friday, officials said. Some reports suggest the bomb was hidden inside a fuel canister at the entrance to the mosque. | |
Doctors said more than 50 people were wounded, including at least one member of the Salaheddin provincial council. | |
A suicide bomber later walked into the emergency room at the hospital and blew himself up near where family members had gathered, according to Mohammad al-Asi, spokesman for the Salahuddin provincial governor. | |
Five people were killed and 16 injured, a hospital official said. | |
Tikrit - about 130km (80 miles) north of Baghdad - is the home town of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, executed in 2006. | |
Many of his relatives and former associates live there. | Many of his relatives and former associates live there. |
Although no group has said it carried out the attacks, suspected Sunni Islamists carry out frequent attacks in Tikrit and Salahuddin province, trying to stir up sectarian tension. | |
Tikrit is dominated by Sunni Muslims, a minority in Iraq who were favoured under Saddam. | |
While violence has decreased in Iraq in the last few years, attacks are still frequent and government or security officials are often targets. | While violence has decreased in Iraq in the last few years, attacks are still frequent and government or security officials are often targets. |