Gunmen kill 4 Iraqi policemen, burn two bodies

Gunmen attacked two police checkpoints in Baghdad today, killing four policemen and burning two bodies in public, an Interior Ministry source said in a reminder of insurgency strength in the Iraqi capital.

The unknown gunmen approached a checkpoint in eastern Baghdad and shot dead with silencer guns two policemen, the source said. The attackers then put the bodies in a police vehicle and set it on fire.

A similar attack happened in the southwestern district of Amil where gunmen attacked another checkpoint, killing two policemen. In a third incident gunmen attacked a government-backed Sunni militia checkpoint in northern Baghdad, killing one member and wounding two others.

Security forces have been frequent targets of a stubborn insurgency in recent months as the United States reduces its troop strength in Iraq more than seven years after the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.

Washington plans to cut US troop numbers to about 50,000 by 31 August, the date for the formal end of combat operations, from just under 60,000 now.

Insurgents appear to be trying to take advantage of a vacuum as Iraqi politicians squabble over positions in a new government more than five months after an inconclusive 7 March election.

Overall violence in Iraq has ebbed since the peak of sectarian warfare in 2006-07 but bombings and other attacks occur frequently.

Iraqi authorities said the number of civilians who died in bombings and other attacks nearly doubled in July to 396 from 204 in June.