7 Iraqi workers killed on way to US airbase

Gunmen opened fire on a minibus carrying Iraqi workers to a US airbase in central Iraq, killing at least seven people, according to police and hospital officials today.

The assailants were in two cars when they attacked the bus on its way to al-Faris airbase in Baqouba, 35 miles north-east of Baghdad, said a police official who declined to give his name.

The police official said 10 workers were killed. The bus slammed into a nearby car, killing three civilians inside, he said.

In a separate account, Dr Ahmed Fouad, head of Baqouba hospital morgue, said the morgue had received seven bodies, and that six others were injured.