RAMADI, Iraq, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Nine policemen were killed and seven others wounded when a suicide bomber struck their checkpoint in western Iraq on Saturday night, a local police source said.

    A suicide bomber blew up his explosive vest at about 9 p.m. (1800 GMT) at the checkpoint in the town of Hit, some 160 km west of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    "Our first reports said that at least nine policemen were killed and seven others wounded," the source said, referring to the possibility that the number of casualties could rise.

    Iraqi security forces immediately sealed off the area for fear of further attacks from apparently remnants of Qaida militants, who have been driven off the Anbar province where the town located, he said.