Police in east Baghdad have shot a black-clad woman, detonating her suicide bomb, Iraqi officials say.

An interior ministry spokesman said the woman in traditional Muslim dress, walked towards a police recruiting centre and ignored calls to stop.

Three police recruits received minor wounds from the explosion. The woman died at the scene of the attack.

Although suicide bombings are a frequent occurrence in Iraq, female bombers are relatively rare.

"Some elements of the mechanized brigade saw a suspicious woman and ordered her to stop, but she didn't respond and approached the recruits, so they opened fire on her and she exploded," a police spokesman said.

PHOTO CAPTION

Baghdad checkpoint