Eight Iraqi policemen were killed and 17 injured in a suicide bomb attack near Baghdad on Monday.

The bomber driving an explosives-laden four-wheel drive taxi rammed into a police station in northern Husainiyah district on the outskirts of the city.

Lieutenant Colonel Ali Amer said 10 officers were injured in the blast, while at least five civilians, including a five-year-old girl, were wounded.

The blast left a 3-foot deep crater about 10 meters from the entrance to the building whose facade was demolished by the blast. The force of the blast heaved the car into the air and into the police station's courtyard.

Several houses and shops were damaged and at least three cars were burned.

Earlier on Monday seven officers were wounded when another car bomb exploded in the western Ameriyah neighborhood.

The attacks came less than a day after US officials announced the capture of Iraq's former leader Saddam Hussein.

Agencies