Sunday, May 1 2005 14:06 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Baghdad: Five Iraqi policemen were shot dead early today (May 1, 2005) when some 30 insurgents attacked their checkpoint, on a main road leading south out of Baghdad, an interior Ministry official said.

"The policemen were taken by surprise at about 6:00 AM (07:30 hrs IST) at their checkpoint some 20 km south of Baghdad by armed men who shot them and took their weapons," the official.

The policemen might have been sleeping, he added.