(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - A provincial police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that 12 policemen, including a brigade, sustained injuries in the Monday operation.

Meanwhile, al-Qaeda in Iraq has claimed responsibility for the assassination of a lawmaker, who had played a significant role in the fight against the terrorist group in western Iraq.

The Islamic State of Iraq said in a statement on Monday that its members killed Ifan Saadoun al-Issawi last week as he toured a construction site in the western al-Anbar province.

Posing as a worker, the attacker hugged Issawi before detonating an explosive vest, killing them both on the spot.

The Iraqi parliamentarian was one of the architects of the pro-government Sahwa (Awakening) forces that fought al-Qaeda between 2006 and 2008.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq is a shadowy group that was once allegedly led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Zarqawi was reportedly killed in June 2006.

It has been blamed for some of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Iraq since the US-led invasion of the country in March 2003.

/129