7 Killed and 10 Wound in Car bomb in west Iraq...

A suicide car bomber targeted a line of vehicles stopped a checkpoint in western Iraq on Monday, killing seven people and wounding 10, police and hospital officials said. The car exploded as vehicles were waiting to be inspected before crossing a bridge near the provincial capital of Ramadi, a police officer said. The dead included three policemen; the others were civilians, he added. An official at Ramadi General Hospital confirmed the death toll. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to release information to journalists. Mohammed Hussein Alwan, a 40-year-old farmer, was riding in a pickup truck about 200 yards (meters) from the attacker's car when the blast occurred. "I ran to the site and saw five burning cars and a child who was thrown by the explosion and landed on the top of a car," he said. "I tried to approach him to see whether he was alive or dead, but the police started to open fire in all directions and we had to run away." Ramadi is a former insurgent stronghold in Anbar province about 70 miles (115 kilometers) west of Baghdad. It has been relatively calm since Sunni tribal leaders revolted against al-Qaida in Iraq, but a series of recent attacks in the area have raised concerns about a resurgence of violence before January's national elections. American troops have pulled back from the city along with other urban areas across the country in line with a security pact with Iraqi government. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has sought to reassure Iraqis that the US-trained security forces are capable of taking over. Recent bombings, especially an Aug. 19 attack on government ministries in Baghdad that killed about 100 people, have shaken people's confidence at a crucial time, just months before the election.