Police find 22 bodies in southeast Iraq

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi police have found the bodies of
22 men handcuffed and shot dead in an area near the Iran
border, officials said on Friday.

Police said the bodies were found near Badra town in Wasit
province, 69 miles southeast of Baghdad, on Thursday.

They were taken to a local morgue and then transported to
the Iraqi capital Baghdad where many of the victims had
apparently lived, police said.

Family members chanting “There is no God but God” picked up
some of the bodies on Friday, taking them home in flag-draped
coffins. Some family members said their relatives had been
abducted from their homes almost three months ago.

One old woman walked along the street nearby screaming
“where’s my brother, where’s my brother.”

Many of the victims appeared to be members of Iraq’s Sunni
Arab minority, but there was no confirmation of that.

Sunni insurgents are waging a bloody struggle with the
Shi’ite majority and its northern Kurdish allies. Some Sunni
leaders have accused Shi’ite militia of carrying out revenge
attacks against Sunnis.

Police said shepherds in Wasit discovered the bodies in an
area between Badra and the neighboring town of Jassem and
alerted local police.