Iraqi Troops Find 17 Bodies in Mass Grave Near Baquba
By VOA News
07 November 2007
Iraqi military officials say troops have found 17 decomposed bodies near the northern city of Baquba, the capital of Diyala province.
The area is believed to be a stronghold of al-Qaida in Iraq insurgents. Authorities have yet to identify or determine the cause of death for the bodies, which were found in a mass grave early Wednesday. However, they say the degree of decomposition suggests most of the bodies had been there for several months.
Last week, coalition forces discovered 22 bodies in a mass grave in the Lake Thar Thar region of the western Anbar province.
In other violence, the police chief of Basra escaped assassination for the second time this week when a roadside bomb hit his convoy.
In Baghdad, police said gunmen killed a woman teacher in a drive-by shooting in the city's mainly Sunni district of Mansur. Also in Mansur, the U.S. military said coalition forces detained seven al-Qaida in Iraq extremists during operations earlier this Sunday.
Separately, the U.S. military said Tuesday it soon will release nine Iranians detained in Iraq who pose no further threat to Iraqi security. A military spokesman, Rear Admiral Gregory Smith, said two of those being released were detained in Irbil in January, while the others were taken into custody at various other times.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
