Bomb-laden truck kills 7 at Iraqi police station

A suicide bomber drove a fuel-laden truck into a police station in central Iraq on Monday, killing seven policemen, officials said.

The morning attack in Tikrit, north of Baghdad, also wounded more than 30, said Iraqi health official Raed Ibrahim.

Qutayba al-Jabouri, a lawmaker from the Salahuddin province to which Tikrit belongs, also confirmed the incident.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the attack was typical of al-Qaeda’s Iraq branch, the Islamic State of Iraq.

The militant Sunni group frequently uses car bombs, suicide bombers and coordinated blasts to target Shiites and those working with the Shia-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Iraqi intelligence officials say that the country’s al-Qaeda branch is strengthening as it takes advantage of chaos in neighbouring Syria to smuggle in arms, weapons and fighters.