FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - A suicide bomber drove a car loaded with explosives into a police checkpoint northwest of Baghdad Saturday, killing at least five policemen a week before provincial elections, police said.
Six other police officers and seven civilians were wounded in the bombing in Garma, 30 km (20 miles) from the capital, said police Lieutenant Mohammed al-Jumaili.
The attack in an area once dominated by al Qaeda and other Sunni Islamist militants took place a week before Iraq holds a local vote seen as a key test of recent gains in security after years of ethnic slaughter unleashed by the 2003 U.S. invasion.
U.S. officials have warned of a possible uptick in violence before the January 31 election. Militants continue to stage devastating attacks despite a sharp fall in overall violence in the last year or so.
Police say they believe al Qaeda cells are still active in Garma, in the vast western desert province of Anbar.
Anbar became the heartland of Sunni Arab resistance to the U.S. invasion and was in al Qaeda's grip until tribal chieftains turned on the group and drove it out, starting in 2006.
Anbar is now relatively peaceful, but political analysts say intra-Sunni tensions are rising ahead of next Saturday's vote.
(Reporting by Fadhil al-Badrani; Editing by Michael Christie and Mark Trevelyan)
