— The Associated Press

BAGHDAD — A suicide car bomb exploded Thursday outside the gate of the main government compound in the capital of Iraq’s Anbar province, killing at least 13 people, including four police, a health official said.

Additional Photos

Iraqi policemen survey the scene of a suicide car bombing Thursday in Ramadi. The bomb exploded outside the gate of the main government compound, the target of daily mortar attacks during the height of the insurgency in 2005 and 2006. AP

Iraqi policemen inspect the site of a bombing in Ramadi, 70 miles (115 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010. A suicide car bomb exploded outside the gate of the main government compound in the capital of Iraq's Anbar province, killing at least 13 people, including four police, a health official said. (AP Photo) AP

The attacker detonated his explosive-packed car at the compound housing the governor’s office, police headquarters and courts in downtown Ramadi.

The province, where al-Qaida-backed Sunni insurgents once held sway, has seen a rise in attacks against security forces and government officials in recent months. The incident also comes amid fears that next month’s elections will stoke political violence.

The blast also wounded at least 26 people, said Dr. Khudhair Khalaf, the director of the provincial health authority.

Debris from the car bomb was strewn on the bloodstained pavement in front of the compound, along with slippers and a red-checkered traditional tribal headdress. The force of the explosion damaged two civilian cars and a police vehicle and shattered the windows of a nearby restaurant.

Anbar was the site of intense fighting between U.S. forces and insurgents in the key cities of Ramadi and Fallujah, though the province is comparatively peaceful now.

The government compound in Ramadi was once the scene of daily attacks during the height of the insurgency in 2005 and 2006, with the governor hunkered down in his office protected by a platoon of U.S. Marines while insurgent mortar shells rained down.

By the end of 2006, many former insurgents began to rebel against al-Qaida and joined forces with the U.S. military, which paid fighters to participate in pro-government Awakening Councils.

Despite an overall decline in violence, insurgents still regularly attack security forces and government officials.

Twenty-two people were wounded Thursday when a car bomb exploded near an Iraqi police convoy in Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, a police official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

U.S. and Iraqi officials have warned of a possible spike in attacks ahead of the national elections, and Iraq has increased security in Baghdad and other potential trouble spots in the run-up to the balloting.

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