BAGHDAD: Iraqi authorities say gunmen have ambushed a police station and killed three officers in a former insurgent stronghold in the country's west.
Police and hospital officials say the men died Wednesday after exchanging fire with attackers outside a police post in Qaim. The town is near the Syrian border, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) from Baghdad.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.
Attacks on police are often the work of al-Qaida's Iraq branch or other Sunni insurgents.
The shooting is the latest in a series of attacks that is raising fears of an increase in sectarian bloodshed since U.S. troops pulled out last month. AGENCIES