A suicide bomber drove a car loaded with explosives into a police checkpoint northwest of Baghdad today, killing at least five policemen, police said.
Six other police officers and seven civilians were wounded in the bombing, which took place a week before provincial elections, in Jarma, 30 kilometres northwest of Baghdad, police said.
The attack in an area once dominated by al-Qaeda and other Sunni Islamist militants took place a week before Iraq holds a local vote seen as a key test of recent gains in security.
US officials have warned of a possible upsurge in violence before the January 31st election. Militants continue to stage attacks despite a sharp fall in overall violence in the last year or so.
Police say they believe al-Qaeda cells are still active in Garma, in the vast western desert province of Anbar.
Anbar became the heartland of Sunni Arab resistance to the US invasion and was in al-Qaeda's grip until tribal chieftains turned on the group and drove it out, starting in 2006.
Anbar is now relatively peaceful, but political analysts say intra-Sunni tensions are rising ahead of next weekend's vote.