A roadside bomb exploded next to a fuel truck in Baghdad Wednesday, causing a huge ball of fire that caught a minibus in which 17 people were killed, police said.

A police spokesman said the explosion in the Bayya'a neighborhood also wounded several people.

Roadside bombs are a favorite weapon of anti-American guerrillas who use them to attack U.S. military patrols. Civilians are sometimes caught up in such attacks.

The violence was another blow to any hopes that the capture of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein last Saturday near his hometown of Tikrit. north of Baghdad, would ease guerrilla attacks.

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