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Articles: Scores of bodies found in Baghdad

Posted by admin on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 - 03:22 PM

Iraqi authorities have discovered two more mass killings, taking the number of bodies found in the past 24 hours to more than 60.

Violence has soared since an attack on a key Shia shrine

The bodies of 15 bound and apparently tortured men were found in an abandoned vehicle in Baghdad's Khadra district. Hours later, 14 bodies were found bound, blindfolded and buried in a south-eastern suburb of the capital. Analysts say the killings reflect the continuing sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia extremists. Shrine attack The victims in Khadra - a mainly Sunni neighbourhood in western Baghdad - were found in a minibus at about 0945 (0645 GMT) on the main road between Amariya and Ghazaliya. Interior ministry spokesman Maj Falah al-Mohammedawi said the men had been shot in the head and chest and showed signs of torture.

Fifty people were killed by bomb attacks in Sadr City on Sunday

Their full identities were not immediately known although police said one victim was carrying papers identifying him as a 22-year-old Sunni student. The second group of victims was discovered at about noon. They were blindfolded and their hands were bound. They had suffered gunshot wounds. Their identities have also not been confirmed but police believe they are from the Sunni minority. More than 30 other bodies have been found over the past 24 hours, mostly in the capital, including four men reportedly strung up from electricity pylons in the eastern Shia district of Sadr City. The sectarian violence has soared since a bomb attack on one of the most important Shia shrines, at Samarra, last month. Hundreds of people have been killed in reprisal attacks since then. Fifty people were killed and 90 injured in bomb attacks on markets in Sadr City on Sunday. On Monday, radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr appealed for calm, saying he would order his Mehdi Army militia not to respond to attacks despite believing Iraq was now in civil war. Parliament meeting Sunni, Shia and Kurdish politicians have begun intensive discussions ahead of the inaugural session of parliament on Thursday. The opening of the body, elected in December, has been delayed by squabbling over the composition of the government. The most contentious issue is the Shia-proposed prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who is opposed as too divisive by many Sunnis and Kurds. The BBC's Andrew North in Baghdad says those involved in the latest talks have warned there is little prospect of rapid progress.

BAGHDAD: KEY SHIA AND SUNNI LOCATIONS

1. Abu Hanifa mosque: Houses tomb of the founder of one Sunni Islam's major schools of law.
2. Al-Khadhem shrine: Burial site of Imam Moussa al-Khadhem, descendent of Mohammad revered as seventh imam by Shias.
3. Um al-Qura mosque: Sunni mosque, built by Saddam Hussein, now popular with Sunni figures who support the insurgency.
4. Haifa Street: Major shopping street, often targeted by insurgents.
5. Karrada Street: Popular shopping street in central Baghdad.
6. Sadr City: Poor Shia area, stronghold of radical Shia leader Moqtada Sadr.

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