Iraq police station death toll up to 18

Gunmen ambushed a police station in the Sunni Muslim heartland north of Baghdad today, killing at least 17 police officers and a guard at a nearby court while freeing prisoners held at the station.

The suspected insurgents struck at dawn, burning the police station in the city of Muqdadiyah and detonating a string of roadside bombs as they raced from the scene, said police Lieutenant Colonel Falah al-Mohammadewi. It was not immediately clear how many prisoners were released, he said.