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http://www.newsmax.com/international/iraq_mass_graves/2008/04/12/87432.html
Iraq: Mass Grave Found South of Baghdad
Saturday, April 12, 2008
BAGHDAD -- Iraqi soldiers acting on tips from detained Shiite militiamen
found 14 bodies Saturday that had been buried in a field south of Baghdad,
officials said.
It was the second discovery this week of mass graves in the area, raising to
44 the number of bodies located by Iraqi troops.
Twelve bodies found Saturday had been dumped in one grave about 500 yards
away from the local office of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's
movement, while two others were buried together in a nearby area on the
western outskirts of Mahmoudiya, a city spokesman said.
The spokesman, Ather Kamil, said the bodies were found after members of
al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia were detained and confessed to killing and
burying dozens of Sunnis as well as some Shiites killed for criminal
purposes.
The grisly discoveries came two days after the Iraqi troops found the
remains of 30 people believed to have been killed more than a year ago in
three abandoned houses elsewhere in the area.
An Iraqi army officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't
authorized to release the information, also said the bodies were found after
the recent arrests of several Shiite militiamen who provided information
about where to find the bodies.
Iraqi soldiers continued to comb the palm tree-lined desert area as the
search for more bodies continued on Saturday.
Several black-clad women whose loved ones disappeared amid the fierce
sectarian bloodletting that reached a peak last year rushed to the field
after hearing that more bodies had been found on Saturday.
Associated Press photos showed U.S. soldiers providing cover as the Iraqi
troops took the bodies away in plastic bags.
Mahmoudiya is a predominantly Shiite city of some 600,000 people about 20
miles south of Baghdad. Sunnis comprise about 20 percent of its population,
but many families have fled the area amid a wave of violence by the Shiite
militiamen.
The Shiite fighters were angry over fierce attacks by Sunni insurgents
leading to a fierce cycle of retaliatory sectarian violence that only ebbed
last year with a cease-fire by al-Sadr, a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida in
Iraq and an influx of American troops.
The lull in violence and the clearing of former insurgent strongholds has
led to the increasing discovery of mass graves. But most of the others have
turned up in areas to the north and west of the capital that had been
dominated by al-Qaida in Iraq.
The U.S. military said Thursday's mass grave was the first unearthed in the
area south of Baghdad. It had no immediate comment on Saturday's discovery.
Iraq: Mass Grave Found South of Baghdad
Saturday, April 12, 2008
BAGHDAD -- Iraqi soldiers acting on tips from detained Shiite militiamen
found 14 bodies Saturday that had been buried in a field south of Baghdad,
officials said.
It was the second discovery this week of mass graves in the area, raising to
44 the number of bodies located by Iraqi troops.
Twelve bodies found Saturday had been dumped in one grave about 500 yards
away from the local office of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's
movement, while two others were buried together in a nearby area on the
western outskirts of Mahmoudiya, a city spokesman said.
The spokesman, Ather Kamil, said the bodies were found after members of
al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia were detained and confessed to killing and
burying dozens of Sunnis as well as some Shiites killed for criminal
purposes.
The grisly discoveries came two days after the Iraqi troops found the
remains of 30 people believed to have been killed more than a year ago in
three abandoned houses elsewhere in the area.
An Iraqi army officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't
authorized to release the information, also said the bodies were found after
the recent arrests of several Shiite militiamen who provided information
about where to find the bodies.
Iraqi soldiers continued to comb the palm tree-lined desert area as the
search for more bodies continued on Saturday.
Several black-clad women whose loved ones disappeared amid the fierce
sectarian bloodletting that reached a peak last year rushed to the field
after hearing that more bodies had been found on Saturday.
Associated Press photos showed U.S. soldiers providing cover as the Iraqi
troops took the bodies away in plastic bags.
Mahmoudiya is a predominantly Shiite city of some 600,000 people about 20
miles south of Baghdad. Sunnis comprise about 20 percent of its population,
but many families have fled the area amid a wave of violence by the Shiite
militiamen.
The Shiite fighters were angry over fierce attacks by Sunni insurgents
leading to a fierce cycle of retaliatory sectarian violence that only ebbed
last year with a cease-fire by al-Sadr, a Sunni revolt against al-Qaida in
Iraq and an influx of American troops.
The lull in violence and the clearing of former insurgent strongholds has
led to the increasing discovery of mass graves. But most of the others have
turned up in areas to the north and west of the capital that had been
dominated by al-Qaida in Iraq.
The U.S. military said Thursday's mass grave was the first unearthed in the
area south of Baghdad. It had no immediate comment on Saturday's discovery.
