BAGHDAD, April 28 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. military said on Friday that Iraqi security forces fought insurgents in Baquba, 65 km northeast of Baghdad, when militants waged a series of attacks on Thursday.

    "Iraqi security forces quickly responded to a series of attacks on April 27 in Baquba in the eastern Diyala province, leaving 21 anti-Iraqi forces dead and capturing 43," the military said in a statement.

    The statement said that the attacks began in southern Baquba on Thursday afternoon "when the Buhriz police station and five police checkpoints were simultaneously attacked with mortar rounds, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire."

    Elsewhere in Diyala province, more than 100 insurgents reportedly attacked the 3rd Brigade, 5th Iraqi Army Headquarters in Dali Abbas, some 35 km east of Baquba with mortar rounds, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire, said the statement.

    Afterward, the governor of Diyala province imposed a curfew in the province, it added.

    A Baquba hospital source told Xinhua on Thursday that the hospital received some bodies and several wounded people, including policemen who were injured when insurgents waged a series of attacks on five police stations in the city. Enditem