RAMADI, Iraq, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Twelve kidnapped policemen were killed and four were wounded in overnight clashes between the abductors and the Iraqi security forces in Anbar province, a provincial police source said on Monday.
The Iraqi army and police forces carried out a joint operation on Sunday night in the desert area between Baghdad and Jordan to free kidnapped policemen, and the troops clashed with their kidnappers, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The clashes resulted in the killing of 12 kidnapped and wounding of four, the source said, adding that it was not clear whether the victims were killed by their abductors or were caught in the crossfire.
Late on Sunday, a source of Anbar source said that unidentified gunmen attacked a police station in the town of Rawa, 260 km northwest of Baghdad and killed ten policemen before they fled the scene.
Anbar province is the heartland of the Iraqi Sunni Muslims. Its capital Ramadi has been one of the main areas of the Sunni protests against the Shiite-led government in Baghdad since last December.
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