A civilian was killed Saturday when a bomb exploded in the early morning near his home in the the centre of Falluja, police officials said.

The Voices of Iraq news agency said the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device (IED), DPA reported.

Falluja, in Anbar province, is in the Sunni heartland of Iraq, to the west of the capital Baghdad.

The area was formerly the site of some of the worst fighting between insurgents and US and Iraqi forces.

In a turn-around, the city has experienced relative calm since being run by former insurgents, known as the Awakening (Sahwa), who switched sides and allied themselves with with their former enemies.