Iraqi forces piled pressure on the Islamic State group around Mosul on Thursday, moving closer to cutting off the jihadists' escape route west to Syria and thrusting deeper into the east of the city.
At least 27 people were killed on Sunday in a series of suicide bombings, including one where an ambulance was used, which were claimed by Islamic State in Iraq's northern province of Salah al-Din.
A suicide attacker detonated an ambulance packed with explosives in Tikrit on Sunday, killing nine people at the southern entrance to the city, police and hospital sources said.
Twelve people were killed on Saturday when militants attacked a police checkpoint north of Tikrit and then detonated a car bomb at the entrance to the city, Iraqi police and military sources said.
Attacks by five suicide bombers on an Iraqi military base north of Baghdad killed at least 15 members of the security forces and wounded 22 others, security sources said.
