Baghdad - A female suicide bomber killed seven tribal police members on Monday in Iraq's Baquba city, witnesses said.

The bomber detonated herself in the midst of a tribal police checkpoint in al-Atibaa street in the centre of Baquba, 60 kilometres north of Baghdad, witnesses told Deutsche Presse-Agentur, dpa.

Eight people, including civilians and tribal police, were wounded in the attack.

Tribal police are also known as the Awakening Councils, which are members of Sunni tribes who coordinated with the US forces to fight al-Qaeda militants in Iraq.

Diyala province and its capital Baquba have witnessed over 20 female suicide attacks during the last few months. In some of these instances, the female attackers, wearing black, head-to-toe clothing, have been able to infiltrate crowds unsuspected.

Women are beginning to be used to conduct suicide attacks in Iraq because they are less frequently subjected to body searches. Religious and cultural rules prevent predominantly-male security officers from touching women while conducting searches. (dpa)