BAGHDAD - Unidentified gunmen kidnapped eight pro-government militants and killed seven of them on Friday in Iraq's restive central province of Salah ad Din, said the local police.

An official with the provincial police told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that the gunmen, under the disguise of Iraqi army uniforms, broke into a checkpoint near the major city of Tikrit and abducted eight Awenkening Council militants.

Seven of the victims were found executed while the remaining one was sent to hospital by a police patrol, the source added.

The Awakening Council, a Sunni militia group, is a regular target of terror attacks in the country for its history of fighting the al-Qaida.