Iraq: 58 dead in Tikrit attack

Security forces stormed the provincial council building in former dictator Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit on Tuesday after an hours-long shootout with gunmen that left 58 dead and 97 wounded, a police official said, according to AFP.

"The latest toll is 58 dead and 97 wounded, and there are many with serious injuries, Six of the dead were the attackers," said the official, stationed at Tikrit's main hospital."

The gunmen, wearing military uniforms and suicide vests, had swarmed into the provincial council building in the city of Tikrit, about 160 kilometres (100 miles) north of Baghdad, immediately after a suicide bomber detonated his payload and cleared the way, according to security officials.

A car bomb exploded shortly afterwards as police reinforcements were arriving, they said.

For several hours, it was unclear whether hostages were being held or how many. Police said employees were still inside the building while witnesses said that at least some had managed to flee from another exit.

It later emerged that some people were trapped inside, but details of how many, or what happened during the drama, remained sketchy.

Shortly afterwards, a curfew was imposed in Tikrit, capital of the Sunni-majority Salaheddin province, which has long been a bastion of a Sunni insurgency and remains the scene of bloody attacks.