LOC17:05
14:05 GMT
BAGHDAD, May 7 (KUNA) -- At least 22 policemen were killed and 34 others were injured when suicide explosions targeted a police station in eastern Tikrit, a security source said on Thursday.
Two suicide bombers detonated their explosive-laden cars targeting a police headquarters near Hamrin Mountains in eastern Tikrit, leaving 22 security personnel dead and 34 others seriously injured, the source told KUNA.
It added that the security forces cordoned off the blast scene and the injured were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment.
The attacks were followed by an armed assault by militants of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant on the city, it said, noting that the federal police forces managed to repel the assault.
At least 40 ISIL militants were killed or injured in clashes following the explosions, it pointed out.
Meanwhile, two civilians were killed and 11 others were wounded in an explosive device in northern Baghdad.
These attacks come at a time when a wave of violence started growing through explosions of booby-trapped cars and suicide attacks in a bid of the ISIL to move the battles to the Iraqi capital and other areas retaken by Iraqi forces. (end)
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