More than 20 people, including Iraqi police, U.S. contractors and other foreign workers, are reported dead in three separate attacks in and near the Iraqi capital.

At least 12 of the deaths occurred late Saturday south of Baghdad, when armed insurgents disguised as police opened fire on a police station in Mussayab before planting and detonating explosives in the building.

Early Sunday just north of Baghdad, U.S. military officials say a car bomb killed six Iraqis and wounded at least 20 others near the entrance to a U.S.-run base at Taji. A group headed by reputed al-Qaida terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has claimed responsibility, in a message posted on an Islamist web site.

In a separate attack Saturday, the Polish Foreign Ministry says four civilians working for a U.S. security company, including two Poles, were killed in a Baghdad ambush.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military freed more Iraqi detainees from Baghdad's notorious Abu Ghraib prison.

Relatives of prisoners lined up outside the facility today as busloads of detainees were transported to various towns to be discharged. The release is the latest in a series of such actions taken by the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.

VOA News