BAGHDAD, September 24, SPA -- A suicide truck bomber blew up his vehicle Monday by an Iraqi security checkpoint near a northerncity, killing five people, including two Iraqi soldiers anda police officer, the city's mayor said. Seventeen civilians were also wounded in the explosionwhich took place at the checkpoint at the entrance of thevillage of Ashiq, some 25 kilometers (16 miles) east of TalAfar, said mayor Najim Abdullah. Several houses and shopswere also damaged in the blast, the Associated Press reported.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/485396