At least 17 people have been killed following a suicide car bomb attack just north of Iraq's oil ministry in Baghdad, a ministry spokesman has said.
"Seventeen people were killed, I believe it exploded prematurely," the spokesman said adding that a suicide bomber had caused the blast which witnesses earlier described as a rocket impact.
An Interior Ministry official said an investigation was still under way. The official put the death toll at six. Police sources said they believed it had been a suicide car bombing and said they could confirm nine dead.
The Oil Ministry spokesman, said the attack occurred around 7 a.m. in one of Baghdad's main thoroughfares.
The area houses several ministries including oil, water resources and trade. There were recruits lining up near the police academy at the time and they may have been the intended target.