Updated

BAGHDAD -- Police say seven Iraqi soldiers have been killed in an ambush in a former Al Qaeda stronghold.

The off-duty soldiers had just ended their shifts outside the northern city of Mosul when gunmen ambushed their car Saturday morning.

Two police officers said the gunmen fled after the attack. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

Mosul is a former haven for Al Qaeda insurgents and Iraq's third-largest city, located 225 miles  northwest of Baghdad.

Insurgents have been trying to regain strength in the city after losing it to American and Iraqi forces in clashes years ago.