(Updates with more details)

BAGHDAD, July 4 (Reuters) - Five people were killed on Wednesday by a suicide car bomb in Baiji, a town 180 km (120 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

Police Lieutenant Immad al-Qaisi said that three of the dead were police officers and that 10 other people had been wounded in the attack, including several other policemen. Initial reports had identified all five dead as police.

Al-Qaisi said the suicide bomber had driven into a police patrol that had pulled up outside a local restaurant for lunch.

U.S. and Iraqi security forces had launched a major security clampdown targeting Islamist militants blamed for many of the suicide car bomb attacks which have wrecked havoc in Iraq.

A 36 percent decline in civilian casualties recorded by the Iraqi government last month signalled the crackdown might be gaining traction. But U.S. officials cautioned that the process was still in its early stages and warned against any premature estimates of its success.

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