Rebels launched two major attacks on police stations in Baghdad today, killing at least 30 people including at least 16 police officers.
The attacks took place in the western Amil district and in the Sunni Muslim stronghold of Azamiyah, where police said a car bomb exploded during a clash between government security forces and armed rebels around the police station.
Gunmen stormed a police station in Amil near the road to Baghdad International Airport, killing 16 policemen, looting weapons, releasing detainees and torching several cars, Police Captain Mohammed al-Jumeili said.
Later, 14 people were killed and 19 others injured in Azamiyah, according to the Numan hospital.
Azamiyah was a major centre of support for Saddam Hussein. Thick black smoke rose from the burning vehicles after the attack in the western Amil district as government forces sealed off the area.
The insurgents shelled the station with mortars, and then about 15 of them stormed its main courtyard and clashed with police inside. Several policemen were wounded, al-Jumeili said.
Detainees being held at the station were also hurt, he said. There was no word on the insurgents' casualties.
The insurgents were said to have freed around 50 prisoners from the jail in the police station and set two police trucks on fire.
The attacks were the latest against Iraq's police and security services, which have been targeted throughout central, western and northern Iraq in recent weeks.
Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Sunni rebel group, al-Qaeda in Iraq, claimed responsibility for the attacks.
"The destructive effect that such operations has on the morale of the enemy inside and on its countries and people abroad is clear," said the claim, posted on a website.