KIRKUK, Feb 23: A suicide bomber rammed a car into a police station in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Monday, killing 13 people and wounding 51 others, a police official said.

The attack occurred shortly before US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld flew into Baghdad on an unannounced visit to assess s man Ali. The United States is banking on Iraqi police and security forces taking over control of the country once American soldiers leave, but Iraqis can barely protect themselves from guerillas who have attacked police stations to discourage them from cooperating with US troops.

More than 300 Iraqi policemen have been killed since a US-led invasion toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in April. A police official said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber driving a car in a Kurdish section of Kirkuk, an oil-rich city 250km north of Baghdad where ethnic tensions are running high.

"Parts of the suicide bomber, his legs and hands, were scattered inside the police station," said Amjad Reda, a slightly wounded policeman whose skin was blackened by the blast.

The explosion badly damaged 13 cars and sent car parts flying over 100 metres away. The bomber struck when police were vulnerable while changing shifts and loading their weapons, a pattern seen in other bombings.

Pools of blood covered ice and snow patches after the bomber drove his car into the gate of the unfortified police station. Armed only with AK-47 assault rifles, Iraqi police often complain that US troops do not provide them with protection.

The latest carnage erupted at a time when Iraq's Kurds are pressing for greater autonomy and competing with Arabs and Turkmen for influence over the city.

The US military has repeatedly said Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda has infiltrated Iraq to carry out attacks aimed at turning the country's sects against each other and trigger civil war. The Americans also blame the violence on Saddam loyalists. -Reuters