RAMADI, Dec 14: An explosion at a police station in western Iraq on Sunday killed 16 policemen and two civilians, including a seven-year-old girl, and wounded 29 more people, a police lieutenant said.

Witnesses said the explosion was caused by a car bomb, but there was no immediate official confirmation.

Sixteen policemen and a civilian died along with the girl, the lieutenant at the hospital in this western city where the casualties were taken said. The officer refused to be named. Hospital director Qusay Abdullah said the hospital had so far received 16 bodies including that of a seven-year-old girl. Among 29 wounded, five were in a serious condition, he added.—AFP