Story highlights
NEW: Six officers are dead after clashes, police say
Police say gunmen took hostages and clashed with security forces
Police: The attack on the police station outside Ramadi was one of several in the city Sunday
A police station in Baji is struck in a separate attack
At least 15 people were killed and 26 others wounded in attacks targeting police stations in Iraq Sunday, authorities said.
An area near the predominantly Sunni city of Ramadi was the scene of a series of attacks involving a car bomb explosion followed by a raid by gunmen, police said.
The gunmen took hostages at the al-Balada police station compound, located about 5 km (3 miles) west of Ramadi, and later clashed with security forces, police said.
The strike on the station killed six police officers, three civilians and five gunmen, police said. Talib Al-Essawi, the political adviser of Anbar’s governor, said at least two of the gunmen were wearing explosive vests that detonated during the fighting, he said.
At least 14 people, including nine security forces, were wounded, state media reported.
The attack on the police station was one of several bombings in the area Sunday, police said.
A car bomb and a roadside bomb exploded in central Ramadi Sunday morning, police officials there told CNN. The blasts caused minor damages to buildings, but no casualties, police said.
Separately, a car bomb targeted a police station in Baiji, north of the capital Baghdad, killing at least one person and wounding 12 others, the ministry said.