Iraqi troops killed in gun fight

Insurgents arriving in pick up trucks attacked a police station south of Baghdad tonight killing 22 police and Iraqi soldiers in a fierce gun fight, a police official said.

Fourteen attackers also died in the clash, which broke out about in Mahawil, 50 miles south of Baghdad, said police Captain Muthana Khalid Ali.

Ali said five Iraqi National Guardsmen and 17 police were killed and 18 security personnel were wounded. He said the attackers used automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades before withdrawing under fire.

Mahawil is located in a mixed area of Shiite and Sunni Muslims.