BAQUBA, Iraq, June 1 (Xinhua) -- A suicide car bomb struck a police checkpoint in a town in the volatile province of Diyala on Monday, killing a policeman and wounding nine people, a provincial police source said.

    A suicide bomber tried to drive his explosion-laden car into a police checkpoint in the town of Jalawla, some 130 km northeast of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    The policemen manning the checkpoint opened heavy fire on the car and blew it up just before reaching the bomber's target, the source said.

    The attack resulted in the killing of a policeman and the wounding of seven others along with two civilians who were close to the scene, he said.

    The attack in the province came as Iraqi security forces backed by U.S. troops are conducting a major offensive dubbed "Glad Tidings" against militant groups and criminal gangs.

    Diyala province, stretching from the eastern edges of Baghdad to the Iranian border east of the country, has long been a stronghold for al-Qaida militants and other insurgent groups since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Special Report: Tension escalates in Iraq