Officials: Suicide attack targets police in eastern Iraq, killing at least 7 policemen

BAGHDAD – Iraqi officials say a suicide attack targeting the police in the country's east has killed at least seven policemen and wounded 14.

A police officer says the bomber drove his explosives-laden truck into the concrete blast walls outside the police headquarters in the town of al-Salam early on Wednesday morning. The town is about 75 kilometers (47 miles) northeast of Baghdad and close to the city of Baqouba, a former al-Qaida stronghold.

A medical official confirmed the causality figures. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to media.

Baqouba and its surroundings are seeing scores of attacks as part of a nationwide spike that has gripped Iraq in the past few months. More than 5,500 people have been killed since April.