Three people have been killed and eight wounded in a bomb attack in the offices of the Iraqi deputy police chief in Sawaryah, 60km south of Baghdad, the US military said on Sunday.
A home-made bomb, believed to have been planted by a night-shift security guard, blew up at 9:20am (0620 GMT) on Saturday, a spokeswoman told AFP.
The US military said earlier that the explosion was outside the office and in Baghdad, but later verified the blast had detonated in Sawaryah.
"Three were killed and eight injured. The deputy police chief suffered burn injuries," the spokeswoman said, giving no further details.
"The security guard who was on the night shift is suspected of bringing in the IED (improvised explosive device) used in the attack," the source said.
She added that the security guard had gone on the run.
On January 26, interim interior minister Nuri Badran said 300 police officers had been killed since Saddam Hussein was ousted from power in April.
Coalition military officials have expressed concern about the rising death toll as Iraqi forces take increasing responsibility for security in the war-ravaged country.