BAGHDAD, March 5 (Xinhuanet) -- Three people guarding a Sunni mosque in western Baghdad were killed overnight when gunmen wearing police commando uniforms attacked the mosque, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua on Sunday.

    "Armed men wearing police commando uniforms attacked the al-Noor mosque in al-Jihad neighborhood shortly after midnight, killing three defenders and wounding six others," the source said on condition of anonymity.

    He said some of the wounded were residents in nearby houses who dashed to defend their worship building.

    There was no damage to the mosque in the attack which took place during the night curfew in the Iraqi capital, he added.

    Sunni Arabs have accused the Shiite-run Interior Ministry of running death squads targeting their minority community, especially during the curfew hours from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.. The ministry denies the accusation.

    In a separate incident, the source said one Iraqi soldier was killed and two wounded when a suicide bomber blew up a car at about 7:30 p.m. (1630 GMT) on Saturday at an army checkpoint in Mahmoudiya, 30 km south of Baghdad.

    Dozens of Sunni mosques were attacked in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities and many people, mostly Sunni Muslims, were killed in the reprisal sectarian violence, which was triggered last month between Shiite and Sunni communities following the bombing of one of the most revered Shiite shrine in Samarra north of Baghdad.

    The Iraqi government said up to 379 Iraqis have been killed and 458 others wounded in the sectarian strife. Enditem