Iraq: At least 18 dead as police headquarters and courthouse attacked

Gunmen attacked the police headquarters and courthouse of the Iraqi town of Muqdadiya on Tuesday, killing at least 18 people and releasing prisoners, police said.

According to Reuters, they said 14 policemen died at the police headquarters in the town north of Baghdad and then two bodies were found at the courthouse after guards at the building came under attack.

Two other policemen died by a roadside bomb as their unit rushed to the area from the nearby town of Baquba to help protect the headquarters, police sources added. According to them, the attackers, equipped with rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and AK-47 assault rifles, set fire to the headquarters and badly damaged it.

According to the AP, authorities said all 33 prisoners in the lockup were freed and 10 attackers died in the battle.