Bodies of 49 soldiers found shot dead

BAQUBA – The bodies of 49 soldiers of Iraq’s fledgling army have been found shot dead north-east of Baghdad, police and officials said yesterday.

They said 37 bodies had been recovered on Saturday and another 12 yesterday morning on a road near the village of Mandali, near the Iranian border. Police said insurgents appeared to have intercepted the soldiers as they were travelling home on leave and forced them to lie on the ground before shooting them.”They were all executed, we found them executed,” Interior Ministry spokesman Adnan Abdul-Rahman said.He said the soldiers had been travelling in three minibuses, which were all burned-out wrecks after the attack.The soldiers were based at Kirkush, about 90 km north-east of Baghdad.A senior security official, who asked not to be named, said the soldiers were unarmed and wearing civilian clothes.They were mostly from the mainly Shi’ite Muslim cities of Basra, Amara and Nassiriya in southern Iraq.”It appears that they were ambushed by a large, well- organised force with good intelligence,” the source said.The attack was another blow to the efforts of the interim government to develop Iraqi security forces to tackle a raging insurgency that US-led forces have failed to quell.- Nampa-ReutersPolice said insurgents appeared to have intercepted the soldiers as they were travelling home on leave and forced them to lie on the ground before shooting them.”They were all executed, we found them executed,” Interior Ministry spokesman Adnan Abdul-Rahman said.He said the soldiers had been travelling in three minibuses, which were all burned-out wrecks after the attack.The soldiers were based at Kirkush, about 90 km north-east of Baghdad.A senior security official, who asked not to be named, said the soldiers were unarmed and wearing civilian clothes.They were mostly from the mainly Shi’ite Muslim cities of Basra, Amara and Nassiriya in southern Iraq.”It appears that they were ambushed by a large, well- organised force with good intelligence,” the source said.The attack was another blow to the efforts of the interim government to develop Iraqi security forces to tackle a raging insurgency that US-led forces have failed to quell.- Nampa-Reuters