44 Americans injured in Abu Ghraib

The American army confirmed Sunday that the number of US soldiers who were injured in the attack launched by scores of gunmen against Abu Ghraib prison increased to 44 including many soldiers in grave health conditions, noting that 12 other prisoners were also injured in the attack.

Witnesses and security forces said that smoke columns were seen coming out of the position of the American forces which stressed that gunmen were in the area. The sources said the attack lasted more than one hour.

The American sources explained that the attackers who numbered between 40 and 60 started by blowing up two cars driven by two suicide attackers. Then the position of the American forces was exposed to heavy missile shelling and bombs. The American army indicated that several gunmen were killed or injured in the attack which was described as big and organized.

This attack came hours after the killing of five members of the Iraqi policemen in a booby trapped car explosion near Baqouba city to the north east of the capital Baghdad.

In Baghdad, unidentified gunmen killed Haseeb Zamel, one of the directors at the Iraqi ministry of education by opening fire on him as he was heading for his office on Saturday morning, near the directorate of education in al-Sader city.

In al-Khaledeyah to the west of Baghdad, four Iraqi police men were killed when the American forces opened fire at a police center after it was exposed to an attack.

In another accident, news reports said that one Iraqi was killed and other 20 detained in al-Qaem area to the west of Iraq when armed clashed took place on Saturday evening between gunmen and the American forces following a breaking in operation carried out by these forces in the area which is situated on the borders with Syria.

On the other hand the Iraqi police found in Beji city the bodies of two Iraqi guards while guarding the oil pipeline near the city which is situated to the north of Baghdad.