Originally published on December 16, 2013
Iraqi security forces regained control of the city council building in Tikrit after it was temporarily occupied by armed assailants on Monday.
The attack began when militants detonated a car bomb near the building. They blew up the gate and gained access. Then, they occupied the building and held 40 council employees as hostages.
Security forces arrived at the scene later, surrounded the building and launched a counterattack. A spokesman of Iraq's Counter-Terrorism Service told AFP that all hostages were freed, one suicide bomber was killed and two assailants blew themselves up.
The government ordered all government employees in the city to go home for the day.
According to AFP, the death toll amounted to six people. Apart from the three assailants, one city councillor and two policemen were among the casualties.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but it is believed that Al Qaeda-linked Sunni Muslim militants were behind the assault.
A total of 54 people were killed in violence across Iraq on Monday, according to Reuters, as Al Qaeda-linked Sunni Muslim militants stepped up attacks on mostly Shiite targets in advance of a major Shiite religious festival next week.
Also on Monday, militants assaulted a police station in Baiji, killing at least four policemen. In the northern city of Mosul, assailants intercepted a bus carrying Shi'ite pilgrims to the shrine city of Karbala, and gunned down 12 passengers.
Sunni militants consider Shi'ites as people who have abandoned their faith. This year has seen the most number of violent clashes between the two groups since 2006 to 2007, when tens of thousands died.
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