Gunmen kill 10 policemen in Baghdad

At least 10 policemen were killed today in a string of almost simultaneous attacks across Baghdad.

Five were killed when gunmen opened fire on a patrol in eastern Baghdad, police said. The officers had been asleep in their vehicle when two carloads of gunmen fired on them around 8am in the eastern New Baghdad neighbourhood of the capital, said Lt Col Ahmed Aboud.

The men had spent the night on patrol and fell asleep as they were waiting to be replaced by another patrol, he said. Their weapons were all in the back seat of their four-wheel drive, he said.

In another attack in the southern Dora neighbourhood, armed gunmen assassinated police Capt Haidir Mizhir Salih and another policeman as they were heading to work around 8am, said 1st Lt Mohammed Hanoun.

In a third drive-by shooting, assailants fired on a police car at 8.15 am, killing one officer and wounding another, said Lt Col Guad Assad. Their driver was also injured in the attack in eastern Zayouna neighbourhood, he said.