Gunmen opened fire at a minibus in northern Baghdad on Friday morning, killing three Iraqi soldiers and wounding four police commandos, an Interior Ministry source said.

"A group of armed men opened fire from their car at a minibus carrying civilians in Taji area, killing three of them and wounding four others," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Iraqi police rushed to the scene. The three killed were identified as Iraqi army soldiers and the four wounded were police commandos from the Iraqi Rapid Reaction Force, the source said.

He added that "the victims, who were disguising in civilian clothes, had rented the minibus to join their military units in north of Baghdad fearing insurgents."

Insurgents often hunt Iraqi security forces and government officials in a bid to topple the Shiite-and-Kurdish-dominated government.

Source: Xinhua