Militants strike Iraqi police hq
July 24, 2013
Armed militants launched an attack on a police station in the north of Iraq early Wednesday, killing at least nine policemen and wounding two others, according to police and health officials.
The assailants, who remain unidentified, employed mortar rounds and automatic weapons, according to a policeman speaking to the Associated Press news agency.
He added that the armed group appeared to have escaped the ensuing shootout without suffering any casualties.
A medical and police official speaking to the news agency AFP said that the attackers detonated a roadside bomb as emergency workers arrived at the scene.
All sources spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity.
The early morning assault occurred outside of the city of Mosul - about 400 kilometers (248 miles) north of Baghdad - where bombings and shootings had already claimed at least 30 lives since weekend.
Since April, violent attacks on civilians and security forces have killed nearly 3,000 people. Despite the rise in the death toll, it continues to remain below Iraq's deadliest year, 2006-2007, during which the monthly average of casualities sometimes exceeded 3,000.
kms/tj (AP, AFP)