BAGHDAD ( At Least 14 Dead in Ambush in Western Iraq - 11 border guard died )

BAGHDAD – At least 14 people, among them 11 members of the Border Guard, died Wednesday in an ambush staged by an armed group in a desert area of the western Iraqi province of Al Anbar.

A police source told Efe that the attackers fired on a four-vehicle convoy consisting of two police and two civilian vehicles.

The convoy was traveling from the city of Karbala to Al Anbar when the attack was launched at a fake checkpoint set up by the ambush squad.

The attack occurred on a highway in a desert portion of Al Najib, 150 kilometers (96 miles) southwest of the city of Ramadi, the capital of Al Anbar.

After the incident, security forces closed off all access to the zone and began an operation to capture the attackers and transport the bodies to the hospital.

May was the bloodiest month in Iraq for more than five years, with 1,045 people losing their lives in acts of violence, compared to 712 deaths the month before, according to the U.N. mission in the country.

In addition, 2,397 people were wounded in the upsurge in violence, especially sectarian attacks. EFE