Sunni militants kill 19 Shiite militiamen in Iraq

Baghdad: Iraqi officials say Sunni militants have killed 19 Shiite militiamen in an ambush north of Baghdad.

Police officials say the attack took place today afternoon when gunmen from the Islamic State extremist group opened fire with machine-guns on a convoy of Shiite militiamen travelling on a road in Babilan village. They said 39 other people were wounded in the attack.

Babilan is about 90 kilometres north of Baghdad. Medical officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to release information.

Thousands of Iraqi Shiites answered a call from clergy in June to join security forces to fight the Islamic militants, who have captured large swaths of land in the country' west and north.