Iraqi security and medical sources on Tuesday said at least 20 people, most of them policemen, were killed during an attack carried out by gunmen dressed in military uniforms on the Salahuddin province headquarters, north of Baghdad.
AFP quoted a security source as saying that Colonel Imad Noufan the director of police and his assistant were killed in addition to two other people in a car bomb explosion at the entrances of the building in Tikrit, the largest city in Salahuddin.
The source added that eight people were killed and a large number of people were wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up in the third floor of the building.
For his part, another source in the Iraqi police said that at least three officers were killed during the clashes. It is reported that some 25 employees were taken as hostages inside the headquarters of the provincial council.
The gunmen stormed the building after the bomber blew himself in front of the main entrance of the building, according to a policeman at the scene. The policeman said on condition of anonymity that the suicide bomber blew himself up near the entrance and then a number of gunmen dressed in military uniforms stormed the building and clashed with guards.
Iraqi police forces surrounded the place.
