Brazen attack shows insurgent strength in Iraq oil province

SULEIMANIYA, IRAQ - A team of insurgents dressed as Iraqi security forces launched a highly organized attack on the Salahaddin provincial council building in the northern city of Tikrit on Tuesday, killing at least 55 people, including three council members and two journalists.

In the past six weeks, Salahaddin province has suffered a wave of violence, much of it targeting the oil sector. On Feb. 26, gunmen attacked the Beiji refinery, Iraq’s largest, killing two workers and detonating bombs that crippled the facility. A week later, the northern oil pipeline to Turkey was bombed near the border of Nineva and Salahaddin provinces, temporarily shutting in a quarter of Iraq’s exports.