Gunmen kill 8 Iraqi soldiers in minibus

EIGHT Iraqi soldiers have been killed as they were on their way to a town north of Baghdad on Friday evening.

Iraq Army

GUNMEN have shot dead eight Iraqi soldiers who were on their way to report to their unit in a town north of Baghdad, security and medical officials say.

At least one soldier survived the gun attack in which a minibus conveying the troops overturned, but he was badly wounded, an Iraqi army colonel and a police colonel said on Friday.

A doctor at the nearest hospital confirmed the toll.

All three spoke on condition of anonymity.

The soldiers had set off from the town of Qaiyarah in the northern province of Nineveh, and were headed for a military camp in Taji 25 kilometres north of the capital.

The gunmen opened fire on the minibus near the town of Baiji, about halfway between the towns, causing the vehicle to overturn, then opened fire on the soldiers.

The attackers fled the scene before emergency services arrived.