Police Official: 29 villagers massacred in Diyala by gunmen in uniform

Above: A soldier with 4th Stryker Brigade guards a gate in a village on the western outskirts of Baqubah as a Civil Affairs team met with leaders of the village on June 23rd.

Officials Report Massacre in Diyala

Dozens of Shiite villagers in the north were massacred by Sunni extremists, two officials said Tuesday...

Police Col. Ragheb Radhi al-Omairi said 29 members of a Shiite tribe were massacred overnight in Diyala province when dozens of suspected Sunni gunmen raided their village near Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles northeast of Baghdad. The dead included four women, al-Omairi said.

Al-Omairi said he had not seen the bodies. Police said some of the bodies were recovered, and that some of the gunmen wore military clothing.

The village is in the same province as Baqouba, where fighting escalated Tuesday. U.S. and Iraqi troops regained control of western Baqouba last month, but al-Qaida and other Sunni insurgent elements remain active in the rest of the city. The al-Qaida front Islamic State of Iraq had declared Baqouba its capital.

Read the rest at the Guardian

Gunmen in military uniforms kill 29 in Iraqi village

Insurgents wearing military uniforms killed 29 people in an attack early Tuesday on a village near Baquba...

A spokesman for the military command in Diyala province confirmed that the gunmen "were wearing military uniforms but they were in civilian vehicles."

The spokesman said that 10 of the victims were treated so brutally they can't be identified.

The Iraqi command spokesman said the gunmen intended to make villagers think they were soldiers but instead they were "deviated gangs" led by al Qaeda in Iraq.

"Eyewitnesses said that the villagers were surprised when they saw a large number of these terrorists surrounding the village from every entrance, aiming their weapons at the chests of the children, men and women in an act that clearly showed that there is premeditated decision from these Takfiri gangs to cause the most number of casualties among these unarmed civilians," the spokesman said. Takfiri is a reference to Muslim extremists.

The military said it has taken precautions to guard "the remaining families in the region."

Read the rest at CNN

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