Iraq: AP reports 22 Iraqi security troops/14 insurgents died when insurgents tried to overtake a police station in the village of Mahawil, south of Baghdad. US military says no attack happened. AP got conned with the fake soldier, did it happen again? Update: Wizbang with more details. This is probably going to fade away into MSM sphere with no definitive followup.

"In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Capt. Muthana Khalid Ali of the Babil provincial police command said the nighttime attack in Al-Bu Mustafa village, in the Mahawil district, about 50 miles south of Baghdad, began when insurgents in about 10 pickup trucks tried to storm the local police station. He said the fighting raged for about an hour and five Iraqi national guardsmen and 17 police were killed, as well as 14 insurgents. The insurgents later withdrew, he said. However, U.S. command spokeswoman Capt. Patricia Brewer said no attack occurred, citing provincial authorities. American troops are stationed in the northern part of Babil province. Efforts to contact Capt. Ali were unsuccessful and the operations room of the Babil provincial police command was not answering its phone."