Security forces stormed the provincial council building in former dictator Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit on Tuesday after a shootout with gunmen that left 58 dead and 97 wounded, a police official said.

"The latest toll is 58 dead and there are many with serious injuries. Six of the dead were the attackers," said the official.

Among the victims of the attack was also a freelance journalist who worked for Reuters, the agencies reported.

Sabah al-Bazee, 30, who had contributed to Reuters in Iraq since 2004 and also worked as cameraman for several other media organisations, suffered shrapnel wounds in an explosion, said his cousin Mahmoud Salah, who confirmed his death.

The gunmen, wearing military uniforms and suicide vests, had swarmed into the provincial council building in the city of Tikrit immediately after they blasted a car.

They then took hostages on the second floor of the building from where they were shooting at the police who surrounded the building.