At least 16 people have been killed and dozens injured in a bomb attack aimed at worshippers at a mosque in the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit.Reports say police and local officials were among the casualties.
It is not clear who carried out the attack or whether a suicide bomber was involved.
It is the second attack in Iraq in as many days, after bombings in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, killed at least six people on Thursday.
'Canister' bombThe blast happened at about 1245 local time (0945 GMT) on Friday, officials said.
Medics said that 16 bodies were brought to the main hospital after the explosion.
Doctor Raeid Ibrahim was quoted by the AP news agency as saying that another 54 people had been wounded.
Among the injured was at least one member of the Salaheddin provincial council.
Some reports suggest the bomb was hidden inside a fuel canister at the entrance to the mosque.
Tikrit - about 130km (80 miles) north of Baghdad - is the home town of the deposed Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein.
Many of his relatives and former associates live there.
While violence has decreased in Iraq in the last few years, attacks are still frequent and government or security officials are often targets.
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