A suicide bomber who hid explosives beneath watermelons in the bed of a pickup truck hit a police headquarters in northern Iraq on Sunday, killing five people and wounding eight others, police and hospital officials said.
The explosion partially destroyed the Bab al-Toob police station in central Mosul, 360 km northwest of Baghdad, an Associated Press reporter at the scene said.
The blast took place at about 6.30 am in a busy shopping district that includes a market.
Policeman Mohammed Hussein Ali, 30, said he witnessed the attack in which a man, who seemed to be driving watermelons to a market, detonated his pickup truck just outside the two-storey building.
"We didn't suspect him. Everyday we see such cars because we're near a market," Ali said.
All the roads were blocked at the time except for one that leads to the market, and the pickup truck was allowed to
pass through a checkpoint, he said.
The bomber detonated the pickup truck near a rear wall adjacent to the station.
Four policemen and a civilian were killed in the blast, police Brig Gen Saaid al-Gibouri said.
The four were sleeping in a room at the police headquarters and died when the roof collapsed on them, Ali said.
The civilian victim was killed on the street outside.
The wounded included police and civilians, including the station's commander, Dr Baha al-Din al-Bakri, Ali said.
