| Page 2 of 2 < |
110 Bodies Found in Baghdad in 24 Hours
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
The U.S. military said Tuesday that seven insurgents were killed in an airstrike on a building in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar, after U.S. troops came under "extremely heavy fire."
U.S. officials had predicted a surge in violence during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began in late September.
Maliki's government is under growing pressure, particularly from Washington, to rein in sectarian militias, several of which are tied to parties within his government and are accused of infiltrating the police to provide cover for killings.
Most of the victims found dumped in Baghdad's streets had been shot in the head execution-style and bore signs of torture, typical features of sectarian death squad killings that the Interior Ministry says claim about 50 lives a day. A ministry official had earlier reported the discovery of 60 bodies in the 24 hours leading up to Tuesday morning, but a further 50 were found during the day, officials said.
In the flash point southern Shiite city of Diwaniyah, U.S. and Iraqi troops killed at least nine guerrillas, most dressed as Iraqi police, in clashes around a mosque on Monday night, the U.S. military said.
It said the fighting erupted after a U.S.-Iraqi patrol was fired upon. But Khudair al-Ansari, a senior representative of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, said the troops had been trying to arrest him.
"They shot at us," Ansari said. "One of my guards has two or three grenades and the other has a machine gun. They returned fire and set fire to one of the Humvees. We then withdrew peacefully, thank God."
The fighting follows recent street battles in Diwaniyah.
The U.S. military said 30 militants were killed and an American tank was severely damaged when U.S. and Iraqi troops entered Diwaniyah on Sunday to detain a "high-value target."
