Iraq: Dozens killed in siege at Tikrit council

March 29, 2011

29 March 2011 Last updated at 13:14 ET

At least 41 people have been killed after gunmen stormed a council building in

northern Iraq and took dozens of hostages.

Security forces laid siege to the building in Tikrit for several hours before

moving in, officials say.

Several council members and a journalist are said to be among the dead and

scores more are reported wounded.

Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown, has been a bastion of a Sunni insurgency.

Officials said gunmen dressed in military uniform stormed the provincial council

building after a suicide bomber detonated his explosives outside.

A long siege then began. Salahuddin provincial spokesman Mohammed al-Asi said

the gunmen executed their hostages as security forces closed in.

It is not clear how many of the dead are hostages and how many are their

captors.

One official told Reuters that the building had been busy when the gunmen

stormed in because the council was holding a meeting.

Another Salahuddin government spokesman was reported as saying that some

officials and government workers had managed to escape before the gunmen could

capture them.

A curfew had been imposed over Tikrit, officials said.

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