Violence Kills 50 in Iraq over Two Days

Two days of bombings, attacks on police and a botched hostage rescue killed 50 people in Iraq, among them 24 police who died as security sharply deteriorates in Anbar province, officials said Monday.

Anbar, to the west of Baghdad, is home to two of the main centers of Sunni anti-government protests that broke out almost five months ago, and has since seen a number of attacks on security forces.

Tensions are festering between the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, and Iraqi Sunnis who accuse authorities of marginalizing and targeting their community, including through wrongful detentions and accusations of involvement in terrorism.

A wave of bomb attacks across Iraq killed at least 26 people on Monday, security and medical officials said.

Two car bombs exploded in the main southern port city of Basra, killing 13 people and wounding 48, while at least eight bombs hit Baghdad, killing at least 11 people and wounding 102.

In Samarra, north of Baghdad, a car bomb killed two Sahwa anti-al-Qaida fighters and wounded 12, while a roadside bomb in the northern city of Mosul wounded three people.

And 24 police were killed in violence on Sunday night.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Majid al-Jlaybawi said police and soldiers carried out a joint raid to free kidnapped police in Anbar, but clashes broke out.

Twelve kidnapped police were killed and four wounded during the raid, though it was not immediately clear if they were caught in the crossfire, killed by their abductors, or a combination of the two.

Mohammed Hadi, one of the wounded policemen, told AFP they had been kidnapped on the highway between Baghdad and Jordan on Saturday.

In Haditha, a town in Anbar province, gunmen attacked a police station, killing eight police, among them two officers, First Lieutenant Murad al-Hadithi and a doctor said.

And gunmen killed four police and wounded three in an attack on another police station in the town of Rawa, also in Anbar, said Qais al-Rawi, head of the area's local council.

The security situation in Anbar has deteriorated sharply.

On Saturday, security forces tried to arrest Mohammed Khamis Abu Risha, wanted in connection with the killing of five Iraqi soldiers and a nephew of a powerful tribal sheikh who is a key supporter of Sunni anti-government protesters in Anbar.

The arrest attempt near Ramadi, west of Baghdad, sparked clashes with armed tribesmen in which two of them were killed.

Hundreds of gunmen then gathered in the area of the Anbar Operations Command headquarters near Ramadi, but later withdrew, police said.

Officials also reported kidnappings of people including security forces in Anbar on Saturday, though they gave differing figures for how many were seized.

While the government has made some concessions aimed at placating the protesters and Iraqi Sunnis in general, such as freeing prisoners and raising the salaries of Sunni anti-al-Qaida fighters, underlying issues have not been addressed.

Violence in Iraq has fallen from its peak in 2006 and 2007 but attacks are still common, killing more than 200 people in each of the first five months of this year, according to figures tallied from official sources.