Gunmen Kill 20 in Breakout at Iraqi Jail

[brettdale]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060322/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

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.