Officials: Gunmen kill 5 Sunni guards in Iraq

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Source: Associated Press

BAGHDAD – Gunmen killed five Sunni security guards — including one by beheading — in a gruesome pre-dawn slaying Tuesday at a village checkpoint in central Iraq, officials said.

The five victims were members of the Sons of Iraq, or Awakening Councils — a Sunni-dominated security force now on the government payroll that has been targeted in revenge attacks after helping turn the tide against al-Qaida.

Authorities were alerted to the checkpoint in the village of Tal Massoud shortly after the 2 a.m. shooting, said one police official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the attack with the media. The village is about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Baghdad.

The police official described a scene of bullet-riddled bodies littered across the checkpoint. One of the bodies, he said, had been beheaded.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091229/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq