A police chief hugged a suicide bomber as he detonated his belt to protect others from the blast.
The suicide bomber was disguised in women’s robes as he carried out the attack that left 14 people dead at an aid camp for victims of ISIS.
Women and children are thought to be amongst those to have died in the blast that took place at dusk on Sunday as authorities helped families who head fled Qaim.
Councillor Taha Abdul-Ghani confirmed the police colonel was also amongst the dead at the camp for displaced people in western Iraq.
He said the officer became suspicious about the person in the long robe and walked up to the attacker, embracing him, presumably to reduce the number of casualties, as he detonated his explosives.
The explosion also wounded at least 20 people.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but suspicion is likely to fall on IS, which has carried out similar attacks in the past.