Gunmen firing from two cars killed 17 Iraqis as they were heading to work Sunday at a U.S. military facility in the northern city of Tikrit while separate attacks killed four Iraqi security personnel in nearby towns. Capt. Bill Coppernoll, spokesman for the Tikrit-based U.S. 1st Infantry Division, said insurgents fired from two cars at several busses carrying Iraqis working for coalition forces that had stopped in northern Tikrit, 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Baghdad. Coppernoll said 17 Iraqis were killed and 13 wounded in the attack, which happened at about 8:30 a.m. (0530GMT). A suicide car bomber drove into an Iraqi National Guard checkpoint in Beiji, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) further north from Tikrit, detonating his explosives-packed vehicle and killing three ING soldiers and wounding 18 at about 9:30 a.m. (0630GMT), Coppernoll said. Gunmen opened fire on the checkpoint following the blast, Coppernoll added. Insurgents also attacked patrolling Iraqi National Guardsmen near Samarra, 95 kilometers (60 miles) north of Baghdad, early Sunday, killing one Iraqi soldier and wounding four.
