The number of the US soldiers wounded in the insurgent attack at a US military forward base west of Baghdad rose to 44 from an earlier count of 20, the US military said on Sunday.

Most of the injuries were light, but several were serious, the US military said.

The apparently well-organized assault was mounted Saturday by 40-60 insurgents at about 7:00 p.m. (0300 GMT). Two car bombs were first detonated, followed by rocket-propelled grenades, mortar rounds and small arms fire.

The attack was targeting the Abu Ghuraib detention center taken by the US-led multinational forces as a forward operation base, in which twelve detainees were also wounded.

It was not known if any of the insurgents carrying out the attack were arrested or suffered casualties.

Insurgents have previously shelled the prison, center of the scandal of abuse of prisoners by US captors. The notorious detention center, 20 km west of Baghdad, holds currently more than 3,000 detainees.

Source: Xinhua