BAGHDAD — Officials say a car bomb explosion in central Iraq has killed three people and wounded 16 others.

A police officer says a suicide car bomber drove his explosive-laden car Sunday morning into a police checkpoint in the town of Khalis, killing two civilians and one policeman. He added that 16 other people were wounded.

A medical official in a nearby hospital confirmed the causality figures. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information.

Khalis, a former stronghold of Sunni insurgency, is about 50 miles north of Baghdad.