Iraq rocked by deadly blast in Tikrit

Nine killed including seven police officers as insurgents blow up oil tanker packed with explosives inside government compound

 

Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki is facing months of protests in the Sunni heartland, which shares a border with Syria.

At least nine people have been killed and 17 wounded after insurgents detonated an oil tanker packed with explosives inside a government compound in the Iraqi city of Tikrit, police said.No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Sunni Muslim insurgents linked to al-Qaida have been increasing their efforts this year to undermine Iraq's Shi'ite-led government and foment inter-communal conflict.The blast exploded in central Tikrit, 150km (95 miles) north of Baghdad, 15 minutes after insurgents drove the tanker inside a compound housing governmental administrative offices. It killed nine people including seven police officers.

Police at the scene said guards may not have suspected the tanker because fuel trucks arrive every morning to deliver gas and oil."The tank was stopped just behind the police administration building and partially damaged it. I was injured in my face and stomach because of glass," Captain Mohammed Salih said.Intensifying violence has accompanied by political crisis in Iraq where a power-sharing government among Shi'ite, Sunni and ethnic Kurdish blocks has been all but paralysed since US troops left more than a year ago.

The prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite, is also facing months of protests in the Sunni heartland, which shares a border with Syria. Many Iraqi Sunnis feel their minority sect has been sidelined by Maliki's government.Security experts say al-Qaida-linked militants have been regrouping in the western province of Anbar and crossing into Syria to fight alongside mainly Sunni rebels against forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Shi'ite Iran.