3 Militants Escape Iraqi Police Station in Deadly Shootout
By VOA News
26 December 2008
Officials in Iraq say at least three local al-Qaida leaders have escaped from a police station during a shootout that left six police and seven militants dead.
The shootout took place before dawn Friday at a station in the western city of Ramadi.
Officials say it began when a prisoner held in a cell asked a guard to escort him to a bathroom. They note the guard was then overpowered by the inmate, who seized his weapon and killed him.
Some of the detainees escaped in the ensuing shootout. In addition to the people killed, at least four policemen were wounded.
Police have imposed a curfew in the city.
Ramadi is the capital of Anbar province, which was once the heart of the Sunni insurgency against U.S.-led forces following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003.
Violence in the area has eased significantly since local Sunni tribes began helping the U.S. military fight al-Qaida and other militants in 2006. The United States handed security control of Anbar to Iraq's government in September.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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