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Six Iraqi police killed in night of violence

07 August 2010 20:51 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Raid on insurgent bomb workshop in Baghdad turns into overnight siege, while checkpoint is attacked outside Falluja, APA reports quoting guardian.co.uk website
Gunmen killed five Iraqi policemen in an overnight shootout that lasted until dawn at a suspected bomb workshop in western Baghdad, security officials have said. Separately, a policeman was killed at a checkpoint outside Falluja.
In the Baghdad shootings, police who trailed suspects to a house in the mostly Sunni neighborhood of Saidiya came under fire from an unknown number of gunmen.
The shooting lasted for hours until dawn, when the gunmen slipped away through a rear entrance, according to two Baghdad police officers and an interior ministry official.
When the house was searched one gunman was found dead with a pistol at his side.
Seven policemen and six residents were wounded, including two women and a 14-year boy, officials said. An emergency room worker at Yarmouk hospital confirmed the casualties.
All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media.
Police said they found bombs, chemicals and other devices to make explosives in the house.
A minibus packed with explosives was in the garage, officials said.
In a separate attack, security and hospital officials said a policeman was shot dead at a checkpoint and two others were wounded outside the city of Falluja, 40 miles west of Baghdad.
In the nearby restive town of Karma militants planted bombs outside the homes of three policemen and a member of the government-allied Awakening Council. About 15 people were wounded but there were no fatalities, officials said.
Attacks on Iraqi security forces have stepped up in recent months as all but 50,000 US troops are due to head home by the end of the month.