AN explosion at a police station in western Iraq yesterday killed 16 policemen and two civilians, including a seven-year-old girl, and wounded 33 more, the US military said.

A car bomb exploded this morning at a police station in this town west of Baghdad, killing 12 people and wounding 19 more, Iraqi police said.

AN American soldier was killed and three wounded yesterday in separate roadside bombings which prompted a fierce eight-hour firefight where US attack aircraft, tanks and helicopters battled Iraqi resistance fighters.