A suicide bomber wearing a vest laden with explosives blew himself up on Sunday inside a popular Baghdad kebab restaurant, killing   16 people and injuring 25 others, police, army and hospital officials said.

The attack took place at 2.45 pm during lunch time at Baghdad's popular Zarzour restaurant.

The injured were taken to Baghdad's Yarmouk hospital.

The dead included six police officers, while the injured included 12, Iraqi army Maj Falah Al-Mehmadawi said.

The incident occurred about 400 mt from the main gate of the heavily fortified Green Zone, a section of Baghdad that contains the Iraqi government and the United States and British embassies.

All that remained of the suicide bomber was his head, an arm and one leg.

The Zarzour was popular with members of the Iraqi security services and was located in one of the most patrolled parts of Baghdad.