Rocket hits hotel in north Iraq, kills 15
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-11-01 09:44

At least one rocket hit a hotel used by migrant workers in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit on Sunday, killing 15 Iraqis and wounding about eight, witnesses said.

Fifteen Iraqi civilians were killed and about eight wounded on October 31, 2004 when insurgents fired a rocket in the northern city of Tikrit, the U.S. military said. [Reuters]

U.S. forces surrounded the hotel, which is around 800 meters away from an American base in the city. The bodies pulled from the rubble were apparently those of Shi'ite workers from the south who came to make a living in the mostly Sunni Muslim region, a cameraman working for Reuters Television said.

Two policemen who were patrolling the street were among the wounded.

The U.S. military said the rocket, one of two fired by the insurgents in the area, struck the hotel, which is about 200 meters from a mosque, at about 7:50 p.m. (1150 EST), shortly after evening prayers. The mosque was barely damaged, witnesses said.

Tikrit, 110 miles north of Baghdad, became a provincial capital during Saddam's rule. Many poor Kurds and Shi'ites still go to work there.

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