A suicide bomber blew his vehicle up at a gas station in Samarra, some 120 km north of Baghdad, on Saturday, killing three civilians and wounding nine others, a police source said.

   "A suicide bomber driving an explosive packed vehicle entered a gas station and detonated his vehicle, killing three people and wounding nine others," the source from Salahudin provincial police told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

   The blast damaged several cars and caused huge fire in the gas station, he said.

   Earlier, Gunmen opened fire at a group of men hanging banners of the Dec. 15 general election campaign in southern Baghdad at about 1:30 p.m. (10:30 GMT), killing one and wounding three others, a police source said.

   "Unknown armed men opened fire from their BMW car at a group of people, who were hanging banners of the coming election campaign in al-Amil district," Captain Ahmed Abdullah told Xinhua.

   In separate incident, a roadside bomb detonated near a US military convoy in Ghazaliyah district in western Baghdad, Abdullah added.

   It was not clear whether there was any casualties among the US troops, which cordoned off the area and prevented the Iraqi police from approaching the scene.

Source: Xinhua