Gunmen killed 20 people including 12 policemen in an ambush northeast of Baghdad on Wednesday, police said, in one of the deadliest attacks in Iraq in weeks. Reuters reported Civilians also killed in the attack close to the city of Baquba in Diyala province, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, police said. Gunmen attacked a checkpoint in a village close to Baquba, killing one policeman. The gunmen then ambushed reinforcements, killing a further 11 policemen, local Sunni Arab patrol group members and civilians, police said. The dead included a police lieutenant-colonel and a police captain. The U.S. military and the Iraqi army have since surrounded the area, but the gunmen were believed to have escaped, police said.
