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Suicide bombing kills at least 4 in Iraq's Tikrit

Xinhua, May 7, 2015 Adjust font size:

At least four security members were killed and 16 others wounded on Thursday when a suicide bomber struck a military base west of Tikrit, a provincial security source said.

The bombing occurred early Thursday morning, when a suicide bomber drove his explosive-laden tanker truck into the base that houses Iraqi police and allied militias, known as Hashd Shaabi, or Popular Mobilization, in Shajarat al-Dur area, just west of capital city of Tikrit in Salahudin province, some 170 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The huge blast was immediately followed by an assault by dozens of Islamic State (IS) militants.

The toll could rise as the fighting is still going on, the source said.

Since March 2, some 30,000 Iraqi troops and thousands of allied Shiite and Sunni militias have involved in Iraq's biggest offensive to recapture the northern part of Salahudin province, including Tikrit and other key towns and villages, from IS militants. Endit