BAQUBA, Iraq, May 28 (Xinhua) -- At least three people were killed and 16 others wounded on Sunday in a suicide bomb attack in the city of Baquba, the capital city of Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, a provincial police source told Xinhua.
The attack took place in the morning, when a suicide bomber wearing explosive vest tried to enter a street leading to the government compound and the nearby court building, but was stopped by policemen at a checkpoint at the entrance of the street and detonated himself, the source said on condition of anonymity.
The blast occurred around 300 meters away from the government compound in central Baquba, some 65 km northeast of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the source said.
The three killed were civilians, and among the 16 wounded were three policemen and the others mostly government employees heading to their work, the source added.
The attack came as the Iraqi security forces backed by anti-IS international coalition are carrying out a major offensive to drive out the IS militants from their major stronghold in the western side of Mosul in northern Iraq.