At least eight people were killed and more than 10 wounded in a suicide bomb attack at a government bank in the town of Haditha in Iraq's western province of Anbar on Thursday, a provincial police source said.

The attack took place around midday when a suicide bomber blew up his explosive vest in a crowd of people, including Iraqi army soldiers, who were gathered to collect salaries at al-Rafdain bank in the town of Haditha, some 210 km northeast of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Six soldiers were among the deaths, the source said.

Iraqi security forces sealed off the scene as ambulances were evacuating the victims to the town's hospital and medical centers, the source added.

Insurgent attacks continued in the once volatile Sunni Arab area in west of Baghdad that stretches through Anbar province to Iraq's western borders with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

The province cities and its vast desert area has been relatively calm for more than three years after Sunni tribes and anti-U.S. insurgent groups turned to cooperate with the U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces against al-Qaida network in Iraq.