| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Al-Qaeda victims found in Samarra grave |
| 2008-10-19 |
| 11 decomposed bodies, believed to have been victims of al-Qaeda affiliated militants a year ago, have been found in northern Iraq. The bodies were discovered in the village of Banat al-Hussein, northeast of Samarra said Sheikh Khaled Fleyih Hassan, leader of a Sunni anti al-Qaeda group which found the corpses. Hassan said that one of the victims was the son of the Samarra municipality chief and that two others were bodyguards of the city's mayor. All the 11 men were kidnapped during the fasting month of Ramadan in October 2007, he said. Samarra police chief Lieutenant Colonel Abdul Khalaq al-Samarraie and a local doctor, Abid al-Samarraie, confirmed the report. Al-Qaeda affiliated militants had also used a nearby house as a prison and torture chamber. Sunnis who have formed groups that oppose the harsh rhetoric and tactics of al-Qaeda affiliated militants have constantly been targeted by them. The groups known as the Awakening Councils are comprised of local neighborhood fighters, including former Sunni insurgents, who are now doing battle against the al-Qaeda network are primarily responsible for their degradation as a fighting force in most areas where they once held sway. |
| Posted by:Fred |