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| Iraq |
| Thirteen bodies found in mass grave near Baquba |
| 2008-12-05 |
| (AKI) - Thirteen bodies were discovered in a mass grave on Wednesday near the Iraqi city of Baquba, north of Baghdad. A police source told the news agency, Voices of Iraq, the bodies were found in the village of Abu Tomma, in restive Diyala province, a former Al-Qaeda stronghold. On Sunday 38 bodies were recovered from a mass grave in the village. CNN reported that the bodies, all of adult men, showed signs of torture, with some blindfolded and some decapitated. Some of the bodies were reportedly wearing uniforms of the Iraqi Security Forces, but most are believed to be civilians kidnapped while trying to pass false checkpoints. Officials said it wasn't clear how long the bodies have been in the graves, but some estimated they had been buried at different times in the past two years. Diyala province extends north of Baghdad as far as the Iranian border. In January 2008 Operation Phantom Phoenix was launched in an attempt to eradicate remnants of Al-Qaeda network . Iraqi authorities imposed a brief curfew in Baquba in August, after a suicide bomb attack targeted a convoy carrying the provincial governor, Governor Raad Rasheed. Rasheed escaped unhurt but at least one civilian died when the attacker detonated an explosives vest in Diyala's provincial capital. Iraqi and US forces conducted a major offensive against insurgents in the province in August. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 13 hardly qualifies as mass. 38, we're getting close to that descriptor. Mining/boobytrapping the site? Great idea, all for that. |
| Posted by: Last Breath Farm Resident 2008-12-05 17:44 |
| #1 Sudden thought, the bodies were aparently buried over a two-year period, that means they've been coming back. Bury a very large mine for the returning grave diggers to "Find". |
| Posted by: Rednek Jim 2008-12-05 12:24 |