Baghdad - At least 16 people were killed and 18 injured Thursday when a suicide bomber attacked police volunteers near the main police department in Sinjar in the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh, according to security sources.

The bomber, wearing an explosive vest, blew himself up targeting the police recruits in Sinjar, about 420 kilometres north of Baghdad, local police sources told the Voices of Iraq news agency.

The death toll was expected to rise as some people were very seriously injured, said the director of Sinjar hospital, Kifah Mahmud.

Iraqi troops have launched a major offensive in Nineveh to root out Sunni extremist insurgency led by the al-Qaeda in Iraq group. (dpa)