Iraqi gunmen kill 47 at “checkpoint”: officials

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Gunmen at a makeshift checkpoint
dragged at least 47 people from their cars, shot them and
dumped their bodies in a village ditch near Baghdad on
Thursday, Iraqi police, Interior Ministry and local officials
said.

The bodies of the victims — Sunni and Shi’ite protesters
who had attended a demonstration against the bombing of an
important religious site on Wednesday — were discovered in the
village of Nahrawan south of Baghdad, officials said.

The gunmen set up the checkpoint to capture the protesters
as they returned home from a demonstration against the bombing
of the Shi’ite shrine in Samarra north of Baghdad.

The victims were all dumped in a ditch beside the road,
said Dhary Thoaban, deputy chairman of the Diyala local
council.

Local Sunni residents of Nahrawan have previously accused
Shi’ite militiamen of attacking them in the past.

(Reporting by Fares al-Mehdawi)