(Updates with background)

BAGHDAD, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Seven Iraqi policemen were killed when a house apparently rigged with explosives blew up north of Baghdad on Monday, police said.

The police had entered the house to conduct a search, police said. The blast took place in the town of Buhriz in volatile Diyala province, where U.S. and Iraqi forces have launched a new offensive against al Qaeda militants.

U.S. troops have uncovered a number of houses booby-trapped with explosives during operations to kill or capture al Qaeda militants blamed for an upsurge of suicide bomb attacks. Six U.S. soldiers were killed in Diyala last Wednesday when the house they were searching blew up.

(Baghdad newsroom; Editing by Ibon Villelabeitia)

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