A suicide driver detonated a truck packed with explosives outside a Baghdad police station Sunday, killing at least 22 people in the deadliest attack in a week. A U.S. Marine died in a blast in western Iraq, the U.S. military said. The attack occurred during a blinding sandstorm at the Rashad police station in the eastern neighborhood of Mashtal. Security barricades prevented the bomber from reaching the station, but the huge blast destroyed two dozen cars and damaged nearby shops, AP reported. Police and hospital officials said 22 people _ most of them civilians _ were killed and about 30 were injured. The U.S. military, citing initial Iraqi police reports, said 40 people were killed, but police said they were uncertain where the figure came from. It was the deadliest attack in Iraq since a suicide bomber blew himself up near a mosque July 16 in the central city of Musayyib, igniting a fuel tanker and killing nearly 100 people. Elsewhere, gunmen killed the head of the city council in the insurgent-riddled city of Samarra, 95 kilometers (60 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. Council chairman Taha al-Hinderah and a companion were gunned down as they walked in the Albu Rahman neighborhood Sunday evening, said police Capt. Laith Mohammed.
