7 policemen killed in Iraq suicide attack

Iraqi firefighters hose down a burned car after a car bomb attack in Kirkuk, 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013. A parked car bomb went off in front of Iraqi Islamic Bank in Kirkuk, home to a mix of Arabs, Kurds and Turkomen, each of the ethnic groups has competing claims to the oil-rich area, the Kurds want to incorporate it into their self-ruled region in Iraq's north, but Arabs and Turkomen are opposed. (AP Photo/Emad Matti)

Iraqi officials say a suicide attack targeting the police in the country’s east has killed at least seven policemen and wounded 14.

A police officer says the bomber drove his explosives-laden truck into the concrete blast walls outside the police headquarters in the town of al-Salam early on Wednesday morning. The town is about 75 km (47 miles) northeast of Baghdad and close to the city of Baqouba, a former al-Qaeda stronghold.

A medical official confirmed the causality figures. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to media.

Baqouba and its surroundings are seeing scores of attacks as part of a nationwide spike that has gripped Iraq in the past few months. More than 5,500 people have been killed since April.