Baghdad - Iraqi police arrested eight suspects on Tuesday in search of accomplices of a female suicide bomber who killed 22 people, security sources said.

The bomber blew herself up Monday amidst a crowd near a police station in Balad Ruz in Diyala province, 57 kilometres north-east of Baghdad, the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency reported.

Eleven policemen were among the 22 fatalities. Thirty-three civilians were injured in the attack.

According to a report by the Monitor of Constitutional Freedom and Bill of Rights, a Baghdad-based group, women embittered by the loss of their husbands and children in acts of violence are potential suicide bombers.

"One million widows and hundred of thousands of divorcees are left without an economically secure living.

"This is made more difficult by onerous procedures to receive social welfare, which is not adequate enough to include the large numbers of marginalized women," the report said.

Figures by the province's municipal council revealed that over 14 women carried out suicide attacks in Diyala since the beginning of the year. (dpa)