Five dead in western Iraq bombing

A bomb has exploded in the western Iraqi city of Falluja, killing four policemen and a civilian, police say.

Fifteen people were injured in the blast outside a bank in the city.

Falluja was at the centre of the Sunni Muslim insurgency following the US-led invasion of Iraq, until local tribes turned against al-Qaeda militants.

The casualties were people who were inspecting the scene of an earlier blast when the second explosion was detonated, police said.

Police did not say who was behind the attack, but al-Qaeda remnants in Anbar province are often blamed for such bombings.

The US military is said to be on the verge of handing security control of Anbar to Iraqi forces.

A scheduled handover ceremony was postponed late last month. Bad weather was blamed for the delay.