7 killed in suicide tanker bomb attack in Iraq

At least seven security members were killed and some 20 otherswounded in a suicide tanker bomb attack targeting Iraqi security forces in Iraq'Salahudin province on Saturday, a provincial police source said.The attack occurred around noon when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden tanker into an army checkpoint and blew it up on a main road in south of thecity of Dujail, some 60 km north of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition ofanonymity.The suicide bomber targeted the checkpoint while a convoy of police vehicles waspassing, the source said.Some civilian cars and nearby shops were also damaged by the huge blast, but therewas no immediate report about their casualties, the source added.Salahudin province is a Sunni-dominated province and its capital Tikrit, some 170km north of Baghdad, is the hometown of former president Saddam Hussein.Iraq is currently witnessing some of its worst violence in recent years. According tothe UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, a total of 8,868 Iraqis, including 7,818 civiliansand civilian police personnel, were killed in 2013, the highest annual death toll inyears. Source: XINHUA