U.S. soldiers and Iraqi policemen inspect the site of a car bomb in Baghdad's western district of Amiriyah, on Wednesday, January 05, 2005.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A car bomb exploded outside a police academy south of Baghdad during a graduation ceremony Wednesday, killing at least 20 people amid a surge in violence ahead of a landmark election. Hours earlier, another car bomb killed two Iraqis in the nation’s capital. Five more policemen were also killed by a suicide attacker in Baqouba.

The bloodshed raised the death toll from insurgent attacks to more than 90 in the last four days.

The number of Iraqi policemen killed in the last four months of 2004 was at least 1,300, according to Iraqi Interior Ministry figures released Wednesday.

The Iraqi police and security troops represent a soft target for the insurgents because of their poor training and equipment compared with U.S.-led coalition forces. The militants consider Iraqi soldiers to be collaborators with the American occupiers.