A roadside bomb claimed 17 lives and injured more than 50 on Friday in Iraq's northern city of Tikrit, hometown of the toppled leader Saddam Hussein, a local police source said.

The explosion happened near a mosque in the well-known Presidential Palace site when people finished their noon prayer and headed for home.

The incident killed 17 people and wounded over 50 others, some of whom were government officials, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

The extravagant Presidential Palace which was once occupied by U.S. Military now houses many government offices and a police headquarter.

Tikrit, some 170 km north of Baghdad, is the capital city of the Sunni-dominated Salahuddin Province which is rife with violence and attacks.