Insurgents attack Abu Ghraib

BAGHDAD, April 2 (UPI) -- A group of 40 to 60 Iraqi insurgents attacked Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison Saturday, wounding at least 20 Americans, MSNBC reported.

NBC News quoted anonymous military officials as saying the insurgents attacked with two car or truck bombs, 40 mortars and a strong ground assault.

A final tally of the dead and wounded was not available.

The prison, located just outside Baghdad, houses many suspected insurgents. It has been at the center of the U.S. detainee abuse scandal.

Earlier Saturday, a car bombing killed five people in eastern Iraq, including four policemen and a civilian, security sources said.

Witnesses said a man parked the booby-trapped car between two checkpoints manned by police and Iraqi national guard troops in the town of Khan Bani Saad near Baaqouba, about 37 miles east of Baghdad.

Police were suspicious and sent a patrol to check the car, but it exploded before the explosives were removed.

The bombing is the first to target government forces after 64 Sunni clerics issued a joint religious edict urging Iraqis to enroll in the army and police force on condition they not collaborate with the U.S.-led "occupation troops."