Iraq shooting: Nine policemen killed near Mosul Published duration 24 July 2013

A number of armed men have opened fire on a police station in northern Iraq, killing nine police officers.

Two other policemen were wounded in the assault, which began at 04:30 GMT, 60km (37 miles) south of the city of Mosul.

Police fired back but it is not clear whether any attackers were hurt. A roadside bomb targeted emergency personnel responding to the incident.

On Tuesday 29 people were killed across Iraq. Thousands have died this year as the country undergoes a wave of unrest.

In the latest attack, gunmen shot at a checkpoint from several directions, police said. An ambulance that rushed to the scene was hit by a bomb that had been planted on the road beforehand, wounding the driver and a nurse.

The attack on the police station came as gunmen shot dead a man in Baquba, a city north of Baghdad.

Correspondents say the province of Nineveh and its capital, Mosul, have become a rallying point for insurgents from the Sunni minority during the recent upsurge in violence.

image caption An Iraqi policeman checks documents in Baghdad as part of increased security measures after a prison break left dozens dead on Monday.

On Monday dozens of people were killed when gunmen stormed two prisons in Baghdad. Hundreds of inmates escaped.