Baghdad: A suicide car bomb killed at least seven Iraqi's, including four police officers, and wounded 23 others when it exploded today (June 13, 2004) near a US-led coalition base in Baghdad, Iraqi hospital and US sources said.

A hospital toll gave seven people killed in the blast and 23 injured, while the US military put the death count at 12 with 13 wounded.

Hospitals tend to give the most accurate figures on casualties in bomb attacks in Iraq.

The blast struck near a petrol station at 9:15 am (10.45 IST) in Baghdad's Rustumya district, where queues of locals had been waiting to fill up their cars, leaving smouldering debris strewn across the street.

"It was a suicide bomb," said Abu Omar, a policeman on the scene.

"The suicide bomber stopped close to a police car and exploded himself," Abu Omar said. "Four policemen inside the car were completely burnt and died."

An official at Iraq's interior ministry said the bomb destroyed two police cars and eight civilian vehicles.