Report: 18 police involved in killing spree released, re-arrested

U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police scan from an outpost overlooking Tal Afar in 2004.

MOSUL, Iraq, March 30 (Reuters) - Iraqi authorities have re -arrested 18 policemen who had been detained but then freed over the reprisal killing of up to 70 Sunni Arab men in the northern town of Tal Afar this week, police said on Friday.

The governor of Nineveh province, which includes Tal Afar, had said on Thursday that policemen who took part in the shootings were released to prevent unrest.

Shi'ite gunmen including police went on the killing spree hours after truck bomb attacks in Tal Afar killed 85 people in a Shi'ite area on Tuesday.

Police in the nearby city of Mosul said the 18 policemen had been re-arrested. It was unclear where they were being held.

Nineveh provincial governor Durad Kashmula had said the culprits would be brought to justice in due course.

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