Sept.12, an Iraqi policeman stands in front of a car with its windshield broken by the US forces near Fallujah.

　　BAGHDAD, Sept. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- A total of 10 Iraqi policemen were killed by US forces and five others injured at a checkpoint in western Iraq on Friday, a police source said.

　　Earlier witnesses said a dozen policemen were killed in US fire when they were chasing a group of gunmen on a highway near Fallujah, 50 km west of Baghdad.

　　The policemen drove a pick-up chasing a BMW which they believed carried four robbers, and only found themselves shot down by US soldiers at the checkpoint.

　　A crowd of local people later gathered at the cite to protest the killing.

　　On Wednesday, US forces also killed an Iraqi policeman and wounded another after their convoy came under attack near Fallujah.  

    US troops guarding checkpoints in Iraq often mistakenly caused innocent casualties as they were considered nervous about the unidentified assaults that have killed nearly 70 American soldiers since May 1, when US President George W. Bush announced the major battle in Iraq was over.

　　Last month, five members of an Iraqi family were slain at a checkpoint west of Baghdad when they were trying to drive home before curfew and did not hear the order to stop of US soldiers. Enditem