BAGHDAD (AP) - Officials say a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden truck near a police station in central Iraq, killing five policemen.

Iraqi health official Raed Ibrahim said Monday's attack in Tikrit north of Baghdad also wounded 15. Lawmaker Qutayba al-Jabouri also confirmed the attack.

There wasn't an immediate claim of responsibility, but such attacks are typical of Al-Qaeda's Iraq branch, the Islamic State of Iraq.

The militant Sunni group frequently uses car bombs, suicide bombers and coordinated blasts to target Shiites and those working with the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Iraqi intelligence officials say that the country's al-Qaida branch is strengthening as it takes advantage of chaos in neighboring Syria to smuggle in arms, weapons and fighters.