Bodies of 23 Iraqi police recruits found

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Police discovered the bodies of 23
police recruits who were part of a group of 35 killed after
being ambushed in a rebel area north of Baghdad last week, a
police official said on Sunday.

The recruits were being driven to Samarra on Tuesday when
they were stopped by gunmen near Tarmiya, said Colonel Emad
Mohammed. One wounded man told police he was the sole survivor
of a group of 15 thrown into a well and sprayed with bullets.

On Sunday Colonel Mohsen Jassim, chief of police of
Salaheddine province, said the bodies of 23 recruits had been
discovered. The 12 other bodies were found last week.

Mohammed had told Reuters the search for the dead was
difficult because the area was too dangerous for police to
venture into.

The Tarmiya area is a stronghold of Sunni Arab guerrillas
who have made the new, U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces a
prime target in their battle against the Shi’ite-led
government.

“We don’t have the power to control this situation,” said
Mohammed, who is based at the nearby, predominantly Shi’ite,
town of Dujail.