Eighteen oil workers have been shot dead by masked gunmen in Iraq, according to officials in the country.
The workers are understood to have been attacked in the north-eastern Iraqi town of Muqdadiya, near Baquba, while digging a trench to extend a gas pipeline.
Fifteen of the workers are believed to be from Iran, while the remaining three are from Iraq.
A further seven men were injured in the attack, bringing the death toll in the country this year to more than 7150 civilians and 950 security workers.