Gunmen killed 14 security personnel in western Iraq as they sat for their evening iftar on the first day of Ramadan, AP reported.
An Iraqi official told AP that the attack took place on Thursday evening when gunmen first overran an army checkpoint near the town of Barwana. The attackers then opened fire on a trailer used by specialist oil industry police force, who were guarding a nearby pipeline, as they were sitting down for the iftar that breaks the daily Ramadan fast.
Barwana mayor Meyasser Abdul-Mohsin says three soldiers died at the checkpoint and 11 troops at the trailer.
There's been a recent surge in violence across Iraq, as more than 2,500 people have been killed since April, according to a United Nations report. More than 200 people have been killed in July alone.
