Car bomb outside petrol queue kills 3 in Baquba

"We found three civilians' bodies torn completely apart," said Lieutenant-Colonel Thair al-Izzi.

Eyewitnesses said no security force personnel -- frequent targets of insurgent attacks -- had been near the car at the time of the blast, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad.

"A man came and placed his car next to the queue of cars outside the station and then he got out and disappeared. A few minutes later the car exploded, I saw the inferno come toward me, so I took my son and ran," said Ahmed Ali, a motorist whose car was among three that were burned out in the blast.

Long queues at petrol stations are common in Iraq despite its vast oil reserves. Sanctions, war and the current violence have damaged production plants, leaving the country dependent on imports to meet needs for refined fuels.