BAGHDAD, Aug 24: Dozens of guerillas armed with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles attacked police checkpoints in western Baghdad on Wednesday in some of the heaviest street fighting the capital has seen in months.

In a separate incident, gunmen attacked a convoy carrying the deputy justice minister, killing four of his bodyguards and wounding five. The deputy minister escaped assassination. It was the second attempt on his life in two days.

Several loud explosions shook the Hay al Jamia district of the capital and at least six police vehicles were set ablaze as a group of around 40 guerillas, some with their faces masked, launched a brazen daylight assault.

“It was raining bullets,” said a police official, who said a dozen police vehicles had been sent in to try to evacuate those under attack, but had failed against the onslaught of gunfire.

A police source said three police officials and three civilians were killed and 31 people were wounded, most of them civilians. Police shot dead two attackers, detained two and seized four cars filled with weapons, the source said.

A police commander said Iraqi security forces had called for US military reinforcements. Parliament is due to vote on Thursday on a new constitution, backed by the Shia-led government but opposed by Sunnis.

Guerillas have threatened to kill anyone taking part in politics, including the drafting of the constitution.—AFP