A suicide bomber blew up his vehicle at the entrance to a US base in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, killing five Iraq soldiers and wounding seven, a police source said today.
The attack occurred yesterday at the main gate to the base, which was once one of Saddam's palaces, he said.
The base, which is the headquarters for US military operations in the northern part of the Sunni triangle, has been attacked frequently in the past. Police in Tikrit said they had also found a body on Saturday of a man who had been blindfolded and shot in the head.
Over the past six weeks, Iraqi security forces have found scores of people shot dead execution-style and dumped in Baghdad and other cities.
Most were Shi'ite Muslims but some were Sunnis, fuelling fears that growing sectarian tensions could push Iraq towards civil war. Insurgents have stepped up attacks since a new Shi'ite-led government was announced in late April.
Since then, more than 800 civilians, scores of Iraqi police and soldiers and more than 80 US troops have died in violence.