Gunmen kill 13 Iraqi soldiers

Baghdad: Gunmen killed 13 Iraqi soldiers in an attack on a checkpoint near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Monday, police said.

The attack took place at a village 50 km southwest of Mosul.

Earlier on Monday, the US military said three Iraqi policemen had been killed in an apparent case of friendly fire in the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi, west of Baghdad.

US ground troops had come under small arms fire during a raid in Ramadi and returned fire. Three men killed in the confrontation were later identified as policemen.

On April 5, 10 Iraqi soldiers were killed in their sleep in a dawn attack on their checkpoint near Mosul by an estimated 40 gunmen.