RAMADI: Eight people were killed and 15 wounded in a suicide car bomb attack on a security checkpoint in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi on Monday, a police official said.

The attack happened at around 8:30 am (0530 GMT) in Al-Jazeera, a northern neighbourhood of Ramadi, the official said. "There were four security force members and four civilians among the victims," he said.

The 15 wounded comprised 13 civilians and two police, he added.

Ramadi is situated 100 kilometres (62 miles) west of Baghdad.

The predominantly Sunni Arab city, capital of Anbar province, was a key Al-Qaeda stronghold in the aftermath of the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime by US-led forces in 2003.

Iraq's biggest province became the theatre of a brutal war focused on the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, while a string of towns along the Euphrates river valley became insurgent strongholds and later safe havens for insurgents.

But since 2006 local Sunni tribes there have sided with the US military. Daily violence has dropped dramatically in Anbar as Al-Qaeda fighters have been ejected from the region.

In September last year, US marines turned over control of Anbar to about 28,000 Iraqi police and 8,000 troops.