Six Iraqi police killed in attack on checkpoint

BORES, Iraq (Reuters) – Gunmen killed at least six Iraqi
policemen and wounded 10 when they attacked their checkpoint
north of Baghdad on Friday, a police official said.

Large numbers of insurgents armed with assault rifles and
heavier weaponry stormed the post in the town of Bores, near
Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) from the capital.

One policeman at the scene put the death toll as high as
nine, with a further 12 officers wounded.

The attack came at about 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) when many
Shi’ite Muslims were observing the start of the Eid al-Fitr
holiday that marks the end of the holy fasting month of
Ramadan. Most Sunni Muslims began the three-day holiday a day
earlier.

The area of Diyala province is home to a mix of sectarian
and ethnic groups; Sunni Arab insurgents have often attacked
Shi’ite civilians and a police force and army that they say is
dominated by the Shi’ite majority now in power in Baghdad.

A suicide bomber who gathered a crowd to buy dates from his
truck killed at least 30 people on Saturday in the nearby
Shi’ite town of Howaider.

Insurgents have on occasion made frontal assaults on police
stations, devastating buildings and killing their defenders.