South Iraq suicide car bomb kills four

BASRA: A suicide attacker blew up a car bomb in front of a police station in Iraq's main southern city of Basra on Monday, killing four people, at least three of them policemen, officials said.

The explosion occurred at 7:50 am (0450 GMT) close to provincial government offices and badly damaged the facade of the emergency response brigade building which was targeted, as well as several nearby cars and shops.

"Four policemen were killed and three were wounded in the attack," said Ali Maliki, the head of Basra provincial council's security committee.

A doctor at the city's Al-Sadr hospital, however, put the toll at four dead, three of them police, and 24 wounded.

Basra province is crucial to Iraq's economy as 80 percent of the country's oil exports, which comprise the vast majority of government income, pass through it before being shipped overseas.

Despite being considered one of the safest provinces in Iraq, attacks do still occur, including a car bomb on November 8 that killed 10 people and wounded 30 others.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011