BAGHDAD: Seventeen people, including seven women, were killed in a suicide car bombing in the Iraqi capital on Sunday even as the US Defence Secretary arrived in the war-torn country for an unannounced visit, Xinhua reports.

The blast, near Baghdad's Oil Ministry, could have been targeted at recruits lined up at the police academy, an official spokesman said.

The blast was earlier believed to have been caused by a rocket attack. However, a statement by the US military said it was a car bombing.

Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived at an airbase in Iraq's western desert for an unannounced visit.

Rumsfeld landed at Al-Asad airbase near Haditha, 200 km northwest of Baghdad, aboard a C-17 transport plane from Bahrain to meet top marine commanders and address about 1,500 marines.