Nine Iraqi policemen returning from a training course in Jordan were ambushed and killed on their way home to Karbala, according to police Sunday.
The bus they were traveling in was attacked Saturday in Latifiyah, around 25 miles south of Baghdad, said Karbala police spokesman Abdul-Rahman Mishawi. He said the attackers escaped.
Elsewhere, American occupation troops battled Iraqi fighters around Fallujah on Sunday. According to The AP, heavy firefights between U.S. soldiers and Iraqis broke out on a highway east of the city and in its southern part, witnesses said.
Locals said a Humvee was seen burning in the eastern edge of the city. Hospital officials said three civilians were wounded in the clashes.
Meanwhile, more than 200 detainees were released Sunday from Abu Ghraib prison after a security review deemed them no longer a threat, the U.S. military said.
It was the fifth round of releases since a review board established by occupation forces and the interim Iraqi government began work in August following a torture scandal at the detention facility.
In the meantime, the South Korean Ministry of Defense said Sunday that deployment of Korean troops in Iraq will be extended by one more year to the end of 2005.
South Korea has completed the deployment of 2,800 trooops in the northern Iraqi province of Irbil, the Kurdish-controlled area. The south Korean military is scheduled to dispatch several more hundreds of Korean troops next month. (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
