Gunmen attacked a car in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Friday, killing three men who appeared to be three foreigners and their Iraqi driver before cutting off the head of one in a daylight attack. The white American-made sedan was driving through a violent western district in Mosel when it was attacked by assault rifle fire, witnesses said. Afterwards the vehicle was set ablaze and a small crowd gathered around the burning wreckage. A photographer for Reuters saw four bodies lying on the street, three of them apparently foreigners, in early afternoon. Witnesses said one of the men looked Turkish, two others looked to be fair-skinned Europeans. One of them had been beheaded. The identities of the victims was not clear, but the witnesses said they were carrying small automatic weapons. Many private security firms operate in Mosel and throughout Iraq. A U.S. military spokesman said troops had recovered three male bodies in western Mosel at around 6 p.m. (1500 GMT), but they appeared to be of Middle Eastern descent. "All three died of gunshot wounds. None of the three were decapitated," he said. "A fourth body was not discovered."