Heavy explosions were heard in Baghdad as Iraqi government spokesman Thair Hassan al-Naqeeb declared a state of emergency for 60 days throughout the country except for Kurdish-run areas in the north. He said interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi would give more details today.

"It is going to be a curfew. It is going to be so many things, but tomorrow the prime minister will mention it," he said.

He declined to say whether the announcement signaled an imminent attack on the insurgent stronghold Falluja, saying "we have seen the situation is worsening in this area. Any obstacle will be removed."

The statement came as insurgents escalated a wave of violence, attacking police stations, gunning down government officials and setting off bombs yesterday in central Iraq that left more than 50 people dead and more than 60 others injured in two days.

The wave of violence sweeping the troubled Sunni Triangle north and west of Baghdad, may be aimed at relieving pressure on Falluja, where about 10,000 American troops are massing for a major assault if Prime Minister Ayad Allawi gives the order.

At dawn yesterday, armed rebels launched deadly attacks against police stations in western Anbar province, leaving 22 people dead, according to police and hospital officials. At least seven of those killed were policemen, who were lined up and shot execution style.

Using bombs and small arms fire, insurgents hit three police stations in the neighbouring towns of Haditha and Haqlaniyah, 220 kilometres northwest of Baghdad, said Captain Nasser Abdullah of the K3 police station in Haqlaniyah.

Also yesterday, three Diyala provincial officials were gunned down south of Baghdad as they were on their way to a funeral in Karbala for a fourth colleague assassinated earlier this week. Governor's aide Jassim Mohammed was killed along with Diyala provincial council members, Shihab Ahmed and Dureid Mohammed, an Iraqi official said.

A series of multiple explosions echoed across the capital of Baghdad yesterday. Residents reported grenades setting police cars aflame on Haifa Street in the heart of the city and attacks on US military convoys in western Baghdad. The US military had no immediate reports on any casualties.

The attacks came a day after insurgents in Samarra stormed a police station, triggered at least two suicide car bombs and fired mortars at government installations. Twenty-nine people, including 17 police and 12 Iraqi civilians, were killed throughout the city, the US military said. Forty others were injured.

Weapons missing

US officials fear as many as 4,000 shoulder-fired missiles could be missing from Iraq, the Washington Post reported in yesterday's editions.

The missiles, which can be used to down aircraft, had been under the control of Saddam Hussein's government, toppled by American-led forces in early 2003.

The Washington Post quoted a senior defense official as saying it was difficult to estimate how many of the portable missiles were missing and how many of those would have been in working order.

The Washington Post reported that US officials feared the shoulder-fired missiles could have been sold to terrorist groups after US military forces failed to secure them.

US commanders are preparing for an imminent attack on Falluja, the strongest guerrilla sanctuary, in a bid to curb the insurgency so that national elections can be held by the end of January. All that remains is for Allawi to give the order.

In web postings, the al-Qaida affiliate group of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for the attacks in Samarra, Ramadi and Baghdad. The claims could not be verified, but US officials believe al-Zarqawi's group uses Falluja as a base.

Ready to attack Falluja

US intelligence estimates there are about 3,000 insurgents dug in behind defenses and booby traps in Falluja, a city of about 300,000 which has become a symbol throughout the Islamic world of Iraqi resistance to the US-led occupation.

Military planners believe there are about 1,200 hardcore insurgents in Falluja - at least half of them Iraqis. They are bolstered by insurgent cells with up to 2,000 fighters in the surrounding towns and countryside.

Yesterday, senior US commanders gave Marine soldiers based near Falluja a pep talk.

"I'm grateful to you. The Corps is grateful to you," Marine Colonel Mike Shupp told hundreds of Marines kneeling in the sand at a base near Falluja. "Okay. Give 'em hell!"

The violence in Samarra underscored the difficulty of maintaining civilian authority in Sunni areas even after the worst of the fighting ebbs.

"The experience that occurred in Samarra is now being repeated again in Falluja, and we can see that nothing was achieved in Samarra," Ayad al-Samaraei of the Sunni-led Iraqi Islamic party told Al-Jazeera television. "The situation is still as it was before" in Samarra.

Drivers burned to death

Two Turkish drivers were burned to death yesterday when gunmen hit their fuel tankers with rocket propelled grenades in northern Iraq, police said.

The two were killed in separate locations near Samarra, Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Yousef said.

The trucks were carrying kerosene. The anti-US group of al-Zarqawi last month threatened foreign trucks and drivers carrying imports of refined oil products.

Several Turkish drivers have been killed or abducted in northern Sunni areas such as Baiji and Samarra, which are key transport routes.

Iraq suffers shortages of oil products, partly due to insecure land routes and sabotage.

Its oil infrastructure has also come under attack. Most imports are carried by foreign trucks.

Turkey, a major exporter of gasoline and kerosene to Iraq, has repeatedly urged its citizens to avoid travel to Iraq.

(China Daily November 8, 2004)