Bodies of 14 male shooting victims found in Baghdad

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Fourteen male bodies with bullet holes
and showing signs of torture were found in Baghdad on
Wednesday, police said.

The corpses, also blindfolded and bound, were found in the
capital’s Shaab district. All the bodies were those of men
between the ages of about 20 and 30, the police said.

Sectarian violence has jumped dramatically since the
bombing of a major Shi’ite Muslim shrine in February. The U.S.
military estimates attacks on civilians have doubled since the
bombing.

Prime Minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki is expected soon to
announce a new government of national unity embracing Shi’ites
and minority Sunni Arabs and Kurds to quell a bloody insurgency
and the sectarian bloodshed.