Baghdad ( CNN ) -- At least 12 people were killed and 24 others wounded in a suicide bombing Thursday in the Iraqi city of Ramadi , police said . The assailant , wearing a explosives-laden vest , blew himself up at a cultural center where people had gathered for a celebration of the Prophet Mohammed 's birth , Ramadi police said . Among the injured was Hakmat Zaydan , the deputy governor of heavily Sunni Anbar province . Ramadi , the provincial capital about 100 kilometers ( 62 miles ) west of Baghdad , was once a haven for al Qaeda in Iraq and witnessed some of the fiercest fighting in the Iraq war . Violence has dropped dramatically from a few years ago but attacks still occur .
Five people were wounded in the attack in Ramadi , police say . Among the wounded was the deputy governor of the province .