Gunmen abducted Sunday morning five university students and their driver near the city of Baquba, the capital of Diyala province, a provincial police source said.

"A group of armed men set up a fake checkpoint in the Saisaban area, some 15 km south of Baquba, and stopped a minibus carrying eight students from the Baquba University, including three females, " the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The gunmen released the three females and kidnapped five students and their driver to unknown location.

The gunmen also tried to stop a truck and a civilian car, but the vehicles overturned after the gunmen opened fire at them when the drivers managed to flee the scene, the source said.

Three people were wounded when the gunmen opened fire at the speeding-off vehicles and were taken later to a hospital, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency April 20, 2008)