2 Shiites Found Shot Dead North of Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Police Sunday found the bodies of two Shiite men who had been shot dead and dumped north of Baghdad in what appeared to be the latest round of killings between rival Sunni and Shiite groups, an official said.

Police Lt. Thaer Mahmoud said the slain men were both bound and wearing black clothes and appeared to be Shiites preparing for Ashoura, the major Shiite religious festival that is expected to begin Wednesday.

The bodies were found on the highway linking Baghdad’s northern suburb of Shula to Taji, a town 12 miles north of the Iraqi capital.

“We suspect that the victims are Shiites who were participating in Ashoura services because they were wearing black clothes and were killed by Sunni extremists and terrorists to enflame sectarian tensions,” Mahmoud said.

The killings follow those of at least 14 Sunni Arab men whose bodies were found Friday after being shot multiple times and dumped in a truck that was also left on Baghdad’s northern outskirts.

Sunni Arab leaders have condemned the killings and threatened to call for a nationwide campaign of civil disobedience if Interior Minister Bayan Jabr, a prominent Shiite, is not sacked.

Sunnis accuse Jabr of directing security forces to attack members of their community, but the minister denies such claims.

Armed Sunnis and Shiites have been detaining and killing members of each other’s communities in a campaign of attacks that erupted following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Iraq’s raging insurgency is believed to be fanned mostly by disgruntled Sunni Arabs, who were prominent before Saddam Hussein’s ouster.

The Shiites, who were long oppressed under Saddam, have taken control of security forces and major political positions in the country since his ouster.