IRAQ: At least 31 people were killed, including 14 police officers, and more than 40 wounded in attacks overnight by Islamic State militants in the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit , security and medical sources said on Wednesday.The militants wore police uniforms and used a police vehicle to enter the city, located 175 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, police colonel Khalid Mahmoud told Reuters. He said there were around 10 attackers, including two suicide bombers.A total of 31 bodies were taken to hospital, including 14 belonging to policemen, said Nawfal Mustafa, a doctor at the city's main hospital. Two suicide attackers detonated their vests when surrounded by police, and three others were killed in separate clashes. Five militants are thought to be hiding and Mahmoud said Tikrit authorities had declared a curfew on Wednesday. Tikrit is the home region of Saddam Hussein , the former president toppled in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Source: Economic Times April 05, 2017 07:41 UTC