Car bomb kills 3, wounds 20 in Iraq's Basra

BASRA, Iraq, Sep 25 (Reuters) A suicide car bomb killed three people in an attack targeting a police station in the southern Shi'ite city of Basra today, Iraqi police and a health official said.

Basra police chief Major-General Abdul Jalil Khalaf blamed Sunni Islamist al Qaeda for an attack that he said also wounded five people. The health official said 20 people had been hurt.

Car bombings are rare in Basra, the hub for Iraq's oil industry.

Most violence in the city has either been directed against British forces in the region or involved fighting among Shi'ite factions vying for influence.

Suicide car bombs are the hallmark of al Qaeda, but most of their attacks occur in the centre of Iraq or in northern areas.

Reuters ARB DS1216