Many dead in Iraq rocket attack

Three marines were hurt in Ramadi, where clashes claimed seven lives

At least 15 Iraqi civilians have been killed in a rocket attack in the Iraqi city of Tikrit.

Eight others were seriously wounded in the blast, which happened at 2000 local time (1700 GMT) on Sunday.

Reports suggest insurgents fired two rockets at an American base, but one missed and hit a hotel housing workers from other parts of the country.

The attack follows clashes in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, in which at least seven Iraqis were reported killed.

At least 11 people were wounded in violence there, hospital officials said.

They included three US marines, who some reports said were injured in a roadside bomb, but details were sketchy.

Workers killed

The rockets used in the Tikrit attack struck the Sunubar Hotel, less than 1km away from an American base which is housed in a complex built by jailed former leader Saddam Hussein, who was born in the city.

The Associated Press news agency reports that moments after the explosion, people were seen running from the hotel, some barefoot and others bloodstained.

It is thought many of the dead may have been on the second floor of the building, where the rocket hit.

No American soldiers were hurt in the attack, and troops are now reported to have surrounded the hotel.

Other agencies report that another rocket exploded near a mosque.

Dr Hassan al-Juburi, director of the Tikrit Teaching Hospital, told AP that two of those seriously hurt were policemen.

The Sunubar Hotel apparently houses Shia Muslim construction workers from southern Iraq who came to find work in a mostly Sunni Muslim area.

Tikrit is 130km (80 miles) north of the capital Baghdad.