Iraqi rebels attack police post: 28 die

Hundreds of protesters cross a footbridge on their way to the Pentagon to seek an audience with US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld during a protest Monday in Washington, DC marking the third anniversary of the Iraq invasion. About 25 protesters were arrested when they crossed a police line on the perimeter of the Pentagon complex. PHOTO: AFP

Army and police commando reinforcements were rushed to the town of Muqdadiya northeast of Baghdad to hunt down the large rebel force and recapture the 32 prisoners freed in the assault.

Officials said at least 18 policemen and guards were killed, along with 10 rebels, in the raid, which targeted a compound consisting of the main police station, the courthouse and municipal offices.

The fighting also left 13 members of the government forces wounded and led to the capture of 16 insurgents who were injured and left behind when other rebels made their escape.

Police said 32 prisoners who had been held in police cells on "terrorist-linked charges" had escaped.

The large rebel force arrived in cars and pick-up trucks at about 5:45 am and opened fire on police with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, destroying some 20 police cars and setting part of the municipal offices on fire.

The insurgents, who escaped after the raid into neighbouring orchards, also set booby-traps along roads leading into the town, 100 kilometres (70 miles) from the capital, to ambush government reinforcements.

Those caught in the ambush included a police commando who was killed and another who was wounded when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb.

As the Iraq war entered its fourth year, police found the bodies of at least 15 more people including that of a 13-year-old girl dumped in and near Baghdad. The discoveries marked the latest in a string of execution-style killings that have become an almost daily event as Sunni and Shia extremists settle scores.