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Gunmen Kill Eight Policemen in Baghdad | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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BAGHDAD, Iraq, AP -Gunmen killed eight policemen in Baghdad Tuesday in a string of near simultaneous attacks, police said.

Assailants opened fire on a police patrol in eastern Baghdad, killing five officers, said Lt. Col. Ahmed Aboud. The policemen had been asleep in their vehicle when two carloads of gunmen fired on them around 8 a.m., he said.

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 neighborhood, armed gunmen assassinated police Capt. Haidir Mizhir Salih and another policeman as they were heading to work around 8 a.m., said 1st Lt. Mohammed Hanoun.

In a third drive-by shooting, unknown 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 neighborhood, he said.

Insurgents have frequently targeted Iraqi security forces in their bid to further destabilize the country.