KUT, Iraq - At least 10 people were killed and 11 others wounded on Monday in a suicide car bomb attack targeting police in Iraq's eastern province of Wasit, a provincial police source said.

A suicide bomber drove his explosive-laden car into a police checkpoint on the main road near the city of Suwairah, some 50 km southeast of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The blast killed two officers, five policemen and three civilians, and wounded 11 others, the source said.

The late surge of violence came less than 10 days ahead of landmark parliamentary elections on April 30, the first in the country since the withdrawal of U.S. troops in late 2011.