Gunmen attack police station in Baghdad: 4 policemen killed

Suspected insurgents stormed a police station south of Baghdad early Wednesday, killing four policemen and wounding at least five, authorities said.

Photo: Gunmen attack police station in Baghdad: 4 policemen killed

The attack came a day after 100 masked gunmen stormed a jail near the Iranian border to free fellow insurgents being held near a police station. At least 20 security men were killed in that attack.

The gunmen in Wednesday's pre-dawn assault used automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades to enter the station in Madain, which is about 20 kilometers (14 miles) southeast of Baghdad, 1st Lt. Mohammed Khyoun of the Baghdad police said.

On Tuesday morning, the 100 gunmen cut phone wires and also fired rocket-propelled grenades in a daring operation that freed 18 fellow insurgents who had been captured in police raids just two days earlier.

Police said 15 other captives were sprung in the assault on the Muqdadiyah lockup and at least 10 insurgents were killed.

In an Internet posting Tuesday night the military wing of the Mujaheddin Shura Council, a militant Sunni Muslim insurgent group, purportedly claimed it carried out the operation. The Web posting said the group killed "40 policemen, liberated 33 prisoners and captured weapons." The claim was posted on the Iraqi News Web site and could not be independently verified.

With the telephone lines cut, the insurgents had 90 minutes to battle their way into the law enforcement compound before police reinforcements showed up from the nearby villages of Wajihiyah and Abu Saida, police said, reports the AP.

I.L.