At least 15 policemen and 31 Sunni Islamist militants were killed in clashes on Thursday in the northern city of Mosul, sources said, on the third day of the most widespread violence in Iraq since US troops withdrew in December 2011. Gunmen attacked Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, on Wednesday night and seized western parts of the city after using a mosque loudspeaker to rally Sunnis to join the battle.
Military sources said federal police and the army regained control after surrounding a police headquarters seized by militants, who were holding 17 hostages. The federal police chief said 31 militants had been killed in the fighting. A source at a local morgue said they had received the bodies of nine militants and 15 policemen but others had yet to be recovered. Troops and tanks also encircled the town of Suliaman Pek, 160 km (100 miles) north of Baghdad, awaiting the arrival of special forces to drive out militants who took control overnight.