BAGHDAD, Iraq - Authorities
found the mutilated bodies of 60 men in Baghdad in the 24-hours ending Tuesday
morning, likely the latest victims of the sectarian death squads that roam the
capital.
The bullet-riddled bodies all had their hands and feet bound and showed signs
of torture _ hallmarks of death-squad killings, police 1st Lt. Mohamed Khayon
said.
The victims ranged in age from between 20 to 50-years-old, he said. Their
bodies had been dumped in several neighborhoods of the capital.
Sectarian death squads have killed thousands in recent months and Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki is coming under increased pressure to find an end to
the violence.
Chief U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell said Monday that
there had been a spike in sectarian violence with the onset of Ramadan two weeks
ago, though did not provide numbers.
"We anticipated it and we expect it to continue," Caldwell said. "The
sectarian tensions in the city are high."
On Tuesday, the body of the brother of a Baghdad police brigadier was found
shot dead, tied to a lamppost in Buhriz, 60 kilometers (35 miles) north of the
capital, Baqouba police said. Later authorities found the body of another of the
brigadier's brothers, also shot, lying in the street.
The bodies of two other shooting victims were found in Khalis, 80 kilometers
(50 miles) north of Baghdad, and another was found in Baqouba, police said.
In downtown Amarah, 320 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Baghdad, a former
member of Saddam Hussein's Baath party was gunned down by unidentified
assailants, police Capt. Hussein Karim said.
In the northern city of Mosul, a police colonel was killed in a drive-by
shooting as he walked through the city, police Col. Abdel-Karim al-Jubouri. A
civilian was also killed in the city in a second drive-by shooting, he said.
Meanwhile, authorities updated their casualty figures from the car bombing
Monday in Shaab, a mainly Shiite district of Baghdad, that came soon after the
evening's iftar meal. Police Capt. Ali al-Obeidi said an additional three people
had died, bringing the casualty totals to 13 killed and 46
wounded.
