Twenty die as suicide bomber hits Iraqi police station

BAGHDAD, Aug 22 (Reuters) A suicide bomber rammed a fuel tanker into a police station in the northern Iraqi oil city of Baiji today, killing at least 20 people and wounding 40, police said.

Police said the bomber struck the front gates of the police directorate in Baiji, 180 km north of Baghdad. Dr Thamir Kawan, the head of Baiji hospital, said 11 people, police and civilians, had been killed in the blast.

The police directorate had just moved into a new headquarters in the past few days, after an identical attack on their original station in June killed 27 people, including 13 policemen.

REUTERS AK HS1431