Irak 50

De Los Angeles Times bericht: 'Gunmen Kill 20 in Breakout at Iraqi Jail. BAGHDAD, Iraq -- About 100 masked gunmen stormed a prison near the Iranian border Tuesday, cutting phone wires, freeing all the inmates and leaving behind a scene of devastation and carnage -- 20 dead policemen, burned-out cars and a smoldering jailhouse. At least 10 attackers were killed in the dawn assault on the Muqdadiyah lockup on the eastern fringe of the Sunni Triangle, police said. The raid showed the mostly Sunni militants can still assemble a large force, capable of operating in the region virtually at will -- even though U.S. and Iraqi military officials said last year that the area was no longer an insurgent stronghold. On Wednesday, suspected insurgents stormed a police station in the town of Madain south of Baghdad, killing four policemen and wounding at least five, authorities said. The insurgency's strength, spiraling sectarian violence and the stalemate over forming a government in Iraq have led politicians and foreign policy experts to say Iraq is on the brink or perhaps in the midst of civil war. In all, 33 prisoners were freed in Tuesday's assault, including 18 insurgents who were detained Sunday during raids by security forces in the nearby villages of Sansal and Arab, police said. It was the capture of those insurgents that apparently prompted the attack. The 15 other inmates were a mix of suspected insurgents and common criminals. In an Internet posting Tuesday night, the military wing of the Mujaheddin Shura Council, a militant Sunni Muslim insurgent group, purportedly claimed it carried out the operation. The posting said the group killed "40 policemen, liberated 33 prisoners and captured weapons."' Lees verder: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/ats-ap_top10mar21,0,4839640.story Of: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032206Z.shtml