Authorities reported 16 people were killed and 34 injured in a double attack in the northern city of Tikrit, which is majority Sunni and the birthplace of the late former President Saddam Hussein.

A double bombing on Thursday struck outside of an Iraqi bank in Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit where policemen were picking up their pay checks, killing 16 and wounding 34 people, according to official reports.

The two midmorning blasts – one from a suicide bomber, the other from a car bomb – were the fourth major attack in 2011 on Iraqi security forces in the northern city of Tikrit, a former bastion for Sunni insurgents determined  to targeting the government and exposing the country’s instability.

Iraq War continues with bombings and suicide attacks

Television footage of the blast showed a huge white cloud over the two-story bank, followed by thick black smoke. A car parked nearby was on fire, and fire-fighters doused the flames. Iraqi security forces sealed off the area immediately.

Tikrit, 80 miles (130 kilometres) north of Baghdad, has been at the epicentre of deadly strikes on Iraq’s government in the country’s north this year.

The violence comes after June was the deadliest month so far this year for the number of Iraqis killed, and the bloodiest in three years for US forces in Iraq war, who lost 14 soldiers in attacks.

 

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