Suicide car bomber kills 15 near Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Feb 11 (Reuters) A suicide bomber driving a truck packed with explosives killed at least 15 people today when he attacked a police station north of Baghdad, police said.

Police said they were caught off-guard by the bomber, who ignored the main gate to the station and instead rammed the poorly guarded entrance to an adjoining municipal building.

He then drove across open ground and smashed his vehicle into the police station, which is in the mainly Sunni town of Dour near Tikrit, 175 km north of Baghdad.

A police major in Dour said at least 15 people were killed and 25 wounded.

The deputy governor of Salaheddin province, Abdullah Jabara, put the death toll at five killed and seven wounded. Police Lieutenant Abdullah Jassem, stationed at a hospital in Tikrit, said it had received nine bodies and eight wounded.

The explosion brought down one side of the building and police said the death toll could rise as they were still searching through the rubble. The dead included policemen and civilians.

More than 3,000 Iraqi policemen have been killed in attacks mainly carried out by Sunni insurgents fighting the Shi'ite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

REUTERS SY RN1540