BAGHDAD, (AFP) – A fierce gunbattle in a Sunni neighbourhood of the Iraqi capital on Saturday saw four policemen killed and 10 people wounded, including eight police, said an interior ministry official.
The clashes broke out about 2:00 am (2300 GMT) in Saidiyah, a stronghold of Al-Qaeda in southern Baghdad during the worst years of Iraq’s insurgency after the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
They occurred after a man whose car was stolen traced it to a nearby house and informed the police who came under fire when they arrived, the official said.
“There was an exchange of fire from 2:00 am until dawn and four policemen were killed,” he said. “Ten people, including eight policemen, were injured.”
One wounded policemen who spoke to AFP from Yarmuk hospital in western Baghdad said a car bomb, a homemade bomb, a grenade, a silenced pistol and a rocket-propelled grenade were recovered during the clashes.