BAGHDAD, March 23 (Xinhuanet) -- The Iraqi government said Wednesday its forces killed 85 insurgents at a training camp in the north of the capital amid continued violence, while Bulgarian troops planned to leave Iraq by the end of this year.

Men look at a truck destroyed in fighting on Tuesday between insurgents and a joint Iraq -U.S. military force near Tikrit, north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, March 23. (Reuters)

    "Special police commandos conducted a successful raid on a terrorist training camp," said a statement of the Iraqi government, noting they "killed 85 terrorists and led to the successful capture of one Algerian."

    This was one of the heaviest single-day tolls suffered by Iraqi insurgents since US-led military operation started in March 2003.

    Meanwhile, the US military said it provided ground and air support for the raid which took place Tuesday.

    The US military said seven Iraqi commandos were killed in the raid, but it failed to confirm the death toll of the insurgents.

A truck destroyed in fighting between insurgents and a joint Iraq -U.S. military force near Tikrit March 23. (Reuters)

    The training camp was located in a remote region near the Lake of Tharthar, where US troops have had a presence.

    The Iraqi government's statement said a police commando battalion discovered the camp. But it was not clear how such a large camp could have been established without earlier detection.     

    NO IMPROVEMENT IN IRAQ'S SECURITY

    Despite the above victory, security in Iraq has given no sign for improvement.

    An Iraqi police officer was killed and two others wounded Tuesday night at a US military checkpoint northeast of Baghdad, the Iraqi police said Wednesday.

    "The US soldiers in the checkpoint opened fire on a police vehicle after they failed to stop," said a statement issued by the joint command center for the Iraqi police and the US army in Tikrit.

    One Iraqi police officer was seriously injured, and evacuated to a US field hospital, but he died later of his wounds, the statement said.

    It added that a joint Iraqi-US military patrol returned fire after being under attack of insurgents early Wednesday near the Iraqi city of Baquba, some 60 km northeast of Baghdad, killing one of the attackers.

    Meanwhile, the Iraqi police found two unidentified bodies north of Dhuluiyah, some 100 km north of Baghdad. Both were shot in the chest and head with their hands tied behind their backs, the police said.

    In another development, the Iraqi security forces detained 81 suspected terrorists in raids in the northern province of Nineveh, the Iraqi government said in statement on Wednesday.

    It said the security forces detained 58 suspected terrorists in Hamam al-Alil and 20 others in Salmiyah, near Mosul.

    The three others were arrested during a raid in western Mosul, the statement said.