Eight Iraqis, seven of them members of the Iraqi National Guard, have been killed in a car bomb attack on a checkpoint near the town of Baquba, medical and security sources say. Fifteen others were also wounded in the blast. It is not known how many were national guardsmen. The checkpoint at al-Nawar came under fire at 6am (0300 GMT), 15km south of Baquba, Iraqi army sources said. "Three bodies were completely burnt," said Dr Ahmad Fuad. Eight bodies were received at the hospital, seven of them soldiers and one other a security guard at a nearby building belonging to Iraqi state television, Fuad and security sources said. "A Caprice-type vehicle managed to force past the first checkpoint and the suicide bomber slammed his car into an inner gate of the police station, causing a large explosion," Lieutenant-Colonel Hassan Salah said. In a seperate incident, the son of an official close to influential Iraqi Shia figure Ali al-Sistani was shot dead southeast of Baghdad by an unknown assailant. Ali al-Khatib, the 30-year-old son of Sayyid Habib al-Khatib, was killed on Sunday in the town of Numaniya. His father, al-Sistani's aide in Wasit province, survived a similar assassination attempt two months ago. **PHOTO CAPTION*** An Iraqi child looks at a U.S. Army soldier conducting a foot patrol near Baquba, January 16, 2005. (REUTERS)