12 soldiers killed in suicide attack in Iraq

A suicide car bomber killed at least 12 Iraqi soldiers and wounded some 30 others in Salahudin province Friday, police said.

The attack occurred near Dijla town south of the provincial capital city of Tikrit, some 170 km north of Baghdad, when a suicide bomber drove his explosive-laden car near the soldiers, Xinhua quoted a police officers as saying on condition of anonymity.

The area near Dijla town, also named Mkesheifah, is a battlefield zone as the Iraqi security forces failed several days ago to cross it on their way to retake control of Tikrit from Sunni militant groups.

Iraq has been witnessing its worst security crisis that began more than two weeks ago when armed Sunni insurgents, spearheaded by an Al Qaeda splinter group Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), launched a surprise offensive that led to the debacle of Iraqi security forces. A large part of the country's northern and western territories are now controlled by the Sunni insurgents.