Iraq police say suicide bomber kills 6 in north

An Iraqi police officer says a suicide bomber has killed at least six people in the country's north.
Police chief Col Bestoon Rasheed today said that the bomber drove his explosives-laden vehicle into a security checkpoint in the town of Dibis.
The town is located near the city of Kirkuk, 290 kilometres north of Baghdad.
Rasheed added that 15 other people were wounded in the attack. Civilians were among the victims, but a breakdown of the casualties was not immediately available.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but suicide bombings are a hallmark of an al-Qaida's breakaway branch that operates in Iraq.

Sunni Insurgent groups have escalated attacks across the country since last year in bid to undermine Shiite-led government efforts to maintain security.