An armed group in military uniform has seized the city council headquarters in the Iraqi city of Samarra and taken employees hostage, the second such attack in recent months. Two fighters, possibly wearing explosives-rigged vests or belts, seized the Samarra city council building on Tuesday morning with an unknown number of employees inside, security officials said. “The gunmen are in the council building,” Police Lieutenant Dhafir Ahmed said, according to Reuters news agency. “Local council employees and court employees are trapped inside.” Clashes broke out between the fighters and security forces, and a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle near police and militia forces when they arrived at the scene. The blast wounded 24 people, most of them police, a doctor and an officer said, according to AFP news agency. The doctor also said that the deputy head of the city council […]