Iraqi police say a suicide truck bomber has killed at least 15 people and wounded more than 20 at a police station in northern Iraq.

Police say the attack took place Sunday in the mainly Sunni town of Adwar, 20 kilometers south of Tikrit. They say the  bomber rammed a truck loaded with hay through the gate of a police station and triggered the blast outside the building.

The explosion severely damaged the building, killing and wounding policemen, prisoners and civilians.  Officials say the death toll could rise as emergency workers search through the rubble.

Elsewhere, police say gunmen killed eight border guard recruits today as they were riding a minibus near the town of Rabiyaa in northwestern Iraq, near the Syrian frontier.

In another development, the U.S. military says an American soldier was killed today in a gun battle with insurgents in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad.