'Foreigners' killed in north Iraq

[Talon]

'Foreigners' killed in north Iraq

At least three foreigners have been killed in an attack by Iraqi insurgents in the northern city of Mosul, local police say.

They and their Iraqi driver were killed in an attack on their car at the Yarmouk traffic intersection in the west of the city, reports say.

Witnesses said four bodies were seen lying on the street close to the vehicle, which had been set on fire.

The nationalities of the non-Iraqis were not immediately clear.

The Turkish foreign ministry said several of its embassy guards were killed on Friday in an attack on a road in Mosul, AFP news agency reported.

Ankara did not say how many guards died, but television reports put the number at four, AFP said.

Witnesses said the victims had been carrying small automatic weapons and that these had been seized by the attackers before they set fire to the vehicle, a white American-made sedan.

A crowd quickly gathered round the bodies and the burning vehicle.

Mortars

Mosul has experienced a surge in violence since the middle of November when insurgents overran police stations, looting weapons.

There have been daily attacks on US and Iraqi security forces throughout the last month.

Another person was killed when mortars rounds landed near local government offices in the city on Thursday, local police said.

More than 150 bodies have been found in the city since 10 November. Many were members of the Iraqi National Guard, but some were Iraqi civilians.

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/worl...ast/4105009.stm