BAGHDAD – Iraqi police say six members of a government-allied Sunni militia have been killed in an ambush by insurgents in eastern Iraq. The killings early Thursday in Diyala province come a day after a spate of nationwide bombings and shootings mostly targeting Iraqi security forces left at least 56 people dead. Diyala police spokesman Maj. Ghalib al-Karkhi said the government-allied fighters, known as Sahwa or Awakening Councils, were driving near the town of Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles (90 kilometres) north of Baghdad, when their car hit a roadside bomb. Al-Karkhi said four of the guards were killed immediately. He said gunmen then shot the survivors. The Awakening Councils joined with US forces against al-Qaeda in 2006 and helped turn the tide of the war.
