Baquba, Iraq: An Iraqi policeman has sacrificed himself as he tried to protect Shiite pilgrims, embracing a suicide bomber just moments before the man exploded, officials said.

The bomber struck on Wednesday in the Khales area northeast of Baghdad, killing five people and wounding 10, a police colonel and a doctor said.

Mourners hold on to the coffin of an Iraqi killed in an attack on pilgrims near Baghdad. Credit:Reuters

The colonel said one of the dead was a policeman who had been guarding the pilgrims. He threw his arms around the bomber just before the attack in a bid to shield others.

The policeman was Ayyub Khalaf, 34, who was married and had two children, his friend Saad Naim told AFP.