17 die as mortars hit hostel in northern Iraq

TIKRIT – Seventeen Iraqis were killed and eight wounded on Sunday when two mortars slammed into a hostel used by workers at a local factory in the northern town of Tikrit, officials said yesterday.

The shells had been intended for a nearby US base, but missed their target, said police colonel Ibrahim Jaburi, adding that it was the second time the hostel had been hit by mistake. “The number of killed has risen to 17 and the number of wounded remains at eight,” said Hamad Hamud, the governor of Salahuddin province, where Tikrit is located.”The attackers were targeting a US base, which is close to the residence on the eastern side of the city,” Jaburi told reporters.Employees at a factory for sand and other construction materials live in the dormitory where the Russian-made mortars struck.Most had come from Iraq’s southern provinces such as Basra and Nasiriyah, police said.Funerals were due to take place in the town on Monday.A US military spokesman said two policemen were among the dead, while hospital sources listed them among the wounded, noting that they had been standing outside the hostel at the time of the attack.Tikrit, 180 kilometres north of Baghdad, is home to a large US military base in an extensive palace compound that once belonged to toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.- Nampa-AFP”The number of killed has risen to 17 and the number of wounded remains at eight,” said Hamad Hamud, the governor of Salahuddin province, where Tikrit is located.”The attackers were targeting a US base, which is close to the residence on the eastern side of the city,” Jaburi told reporters.Employees at a factory for sand and other construction materials live in the dormitory where the Russian-made mortars struck.Most had come from Iraq’s southern provinces such as Basra and Nasiriyah, police said.Funerals were due to take place in the town on Monday.A US military spokesman said two policemen were among the dead, while hospital sources listed them among the wounded, noting that they had been standing outside the hostel at the time of the attack.Tikrit, 180 kilometres north of Baghdad, is home to a large US military base in an extensive palace compound that once belonged to toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.- Nampa-AFP