19 killed in attacks on Iraqi police stations

Insurgents launched a series of attacks in the so-called Sunni triangle area of Iraq, killing at least 19 people, including one US soldier, and wounding 16 others.

Simultaneous attacks were unleashed at dawn on the police stations in the western Iraqi cities of Ramadi and in Baqouba, where US troops also came under fire.

Major Neal O’Brien, a US 1st Infantry Division spokesman in Baqouba, said insurgents attacked American troops with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades, killing one American soldier and wounding three others.

Soldiers returned fire, killing two insurgents, he said.

Police and insurgents also clashed in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, police said. The dead included 11 police and prisoners, police said. Insurgents were later seen roaming the city with rocket launchers and automatic weapons.

In Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, the sound of explosions and shelling could be heard in the east of the city and some armed men were seen running through the streets, witnesses said.

The cities are part of the so-called Sunni triangle, which has been the site of frequent clashes between US troops and Iraqi security forces who are battling insurgents.

Authorities have warned that attacks on security forces would increase in the days leading to the June 30 handover of power.

In Ramadi, insurgents wearing black and using masks fired rocket-propelled grenades to attack two police stations in the insurgent stronghold 60 miles west of Baghdad, police said.

“We were inside the al-Qataneh police station and suddenly a very heavy explosion happened,” said 1st Lieutenant Ahmed Sami. “We discovered later on that the station was attacked from all around.”

He said the station was completely destroyed in the blast.

Another group attacked the Farook police station in Ramadi, also with rocket propelled grenades, Sami said. In a third assault, insurgents attacked a Ramadi government building, destroying several police cars.