BAGHDAD: Two groups of gunmen entered two primary schools in Baghdad and beheaded two teachers in front of their students, Iraq's Ministry of State for National Security said on Wednesday. But the US military and a police official said the attacks never took place. "Two terrorist groups beheaded two teachers in front of their students in the Amna and Shaheed Hamdi primary schools in Shaab district in Baghdad," a ministry statement said. An official in the ministry's press office also confirmed the report.
But the US military said it was false. "There is no substance to this report. It did not occur. But we are still checking with Iraqi police and other sources," said US military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson. Police Major Kassim Ahmed told a reporter who went to the scene: "This is not true. It is made up."