At least 4 police officers killed as Iraqi violence continues

Police officer stands outside the Abdel Kader al-Kilani mosque, central Baghdad Gunmen attacked a police station and an army position in the town of Rawa northwest of Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least four police officers and wounding three, a local official said. Qais al-Rawi, the head of the local council for the area, said that gunmen killed and wounded the police in an attack on their station in Rawa, while they also assaulted and then set fire to an army position.
There were 15 soldiers and an officer at the position, Rawi said, and their fate is unknown.
There have been a number of attacks in recent weeks on security forces in Anbar province, home to Ramadi and Fallujah, two centres of Sunni protests that broke out almost five months ago.
Up to 10 people were kidnapped in Anbar on Saturday, according to security officials.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called for joint Sunni-Shiite prayers following the attacks, saying the attackers wanted to ignite sectarian strife in Iraq.
"I call for holding joint prayers in one of the large Baghdad mosques each Friday" Maliki said in a statement.
"Those who target mosques are enemies of Sunnis and Shiites alike, and are planning to ignite (sectarian) strife," he said.
Tensions are festering in Iraq between the government of Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, and Iraqi Sunnis who accuse authorities of marginalising and targeting their community, including through wrongful detentions and accusations of involvement in terrorism.
The government has made some concessions, such as freeing prisoners and raising the salaries of Sunni anti-al-Qaeda fighters, but underlying issues have not been addressed.