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BAGHDAD Eight people were killed and more than 50 wounded when a car bomb exploded in a crowded street in the Iraqi city of Tikrit on Wednesday, a local official said.

The car was parked in al-Atibaa Street ("Doctors Street" in English) in downtown Tikrit, which is often crowded as it has many clinics.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing although Islamic State has carried out similar actions as it battles against a government offensive on its former stronghold in Mosul, 200 km (125 miles) north of Tikrit.

"Eight are killed and 52 are wounded from the Tikrit al-Atibaa street attack," governorate mediadirector Jamal Aqaab said.

More than 20 people were killed on March 8 in a series of blasts that hit a wedding near Tikrit and targeted security forces at the scene shortly afterwards.

The retreat of Islamic State's self-styled caliphate, which leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared from a mosque in Mosul's old city in 2014, has been accompanied by bomb attacks in areas outside the group's control, including Baghdad and cities in neighboring Syria.

(Reporting by Alaa Mohammad; Writing by Angus MacSwan; Editing by Tom Heneghan)

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Car bomb kills 8, wounds dozens in Iraq's Tikrit city - Reuters