¡¡¡¡RAMADI, Iraq, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- A government-backed paramilitary group leader and two of his guards were killed Monday by gunmen in Iraq's western province of Anbar, a provincial police source said.

¡¡¡¡Unidentified gunmen opened fire from their assault rifles on the car of Sa'eed al-Shemmari, leader of the tribal support council of the city of Fallujah, killing him and two of his bodyguards, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

¡¡¡¡The attack occurred when the gunmen intercepted Shemmari's car on a main road west of Fallujah, some 50 km west of Baghdad, the source said.

¡¡¡¡The attack is the seventh by the insurgent groups against Shemmari, who survived six assassination attempts last year, the source added.

¡¡¡¡Iraqi security forces sealed off the scene, while the police launched an investigation into the incident, he said.

¡¡¡¡The council is a paramilitary organization formed by local tribes in the past few years to support Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government and his security forces in the province.

¡¡¡¡Insurgent attacks continue in the once-volatile Sunni Arab area in west of Baghdad that stretches through Anbar province to Iraq's western borders with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.