14Dec03-AFP-Car bomb kills 17, wounds 30 policemen in western Iraq
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KHALDIYAH, Iraq (AFP) - A car bomb killed 17 policemen and wounded 30 more at a police station in western Iraq, police lieutenant Faiz Mohammad Motab and witnesses said.
"An explosion went off near the gate of the station," he said. "It killed 17 and wounded 30 policemen, including senior officers and the ranks," he said.
"There's a big hole outside the gate about three or four metres (yards) across and more than two metres deep, and the outside wall was knocked down.
"We don't know what caused the blast," the lieutenant admitted, although witnesses earlier said it was a car bomb.
The casualties were rushed to the nearby Ramadi general hospital, 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Baghdad, witnesses said.
The blast left a charred wreck of a car and destroyed two other cars, AFP corresponents at the scene said.
It went off about 8:40 am (0540 GMT) at the station on the main road about 20 kilometres (12 miles) to the east of Ramadi, a military spokeswoman in Baghdad said.
US armoured vehicles blocked off the area and two tanks parked on the main road while two helicopters hovered overhead.
More than 100 US troops had taken up position around the compound preventing anyone from approaching.
"There were no coalition casualties," she said, adding that a US military quick reaction force had been sent to the town situated between the rebel cities of Ramadi and Fallujah where ousted president Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) still commands loyalty.
The spokeswoman had no information on Iraqi casualties.
About 150 policemen worked at the station.
On September 15, the police chief of Khaldiyah, Colonel Khdayyir Ali Mukhlif, was killed when three assailant opened fire at his car.
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