A popular Iraqi soccer star was kidnapped and 35 bullet-riddled bodies were found in Iraq on Monday, a day after Iraqi officials touted the capture of al-Qaeda in Iraq's No. 2 leader as a move to reduce violence in the country.
The U.S. military announced the deaths of five more American troops, including a soldier who was killed by a roadside bomb north of Baghdad on Monday.
A roadside bomb also killed two British soldiers and seriously wounded a third in Ad Dayr, north of the southern city of Basra, British military spokesman Maj. Charlie Burbridge said.
Authorities found 33 bodies of people who had been shot to death, all showing signs of torture, dumped around several neighborhoods in Baghdad, police said. The bodies, all of men, were blindfolded and their feet and hands were tied.
In Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, police found another two bodies dumped on a highway. Both had been shot in the head and chest, said Ma'moun Ajil al-Robai'ei from the morgue at Kut hospital.
Elsewhere in the capital, Ghanim Ghudayer, 22, considered one of the best players in Baghdad's Air Force Club, was abducted Sunday evening by unknown assailants, some who were wearing military uniforms, police said.
The head of the Air Force Club, Samir Kadhim, said the player, who also was on Iraq's Olympic team, had planned to leave for Syria in two or three days to join a new team there. Iraqi sports officials and athletes have frequently faced threats, kidnappings and killings.
At least two people also were killed and six were wounded in and around Ba'aqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, in shootings and bomb attacks.
The Iraqi Defense Ministry announced on Monday that 15 people believed to have been involved in resistance activities were killed over the last 24 hours by US-led Iraqi army units.
Disagreements continued in the handover of the country's armed forces command from the U.S.-led coalition to Iraq, with the Defense Ministry saying a ceremony to mark the transition had been postponed indefinitely.
The highly anticipated ceremony, which was to have marked the formal transfer of control of Iraq's armed forces to the government, had been scheduled for Saturday but was called off at the last minute.
The two sides still need "to complete some legal and protocol procedures that will lead to a complete understanding between the Iraqi government and the multinational troops," the Defense Ministry said.
Handing over control from the coalition to Iraqi authorities is a key part of any eventual drawdown of U.S. troops in the country.
An American soldier was killed Monday by a roadside bomb north of Baghad, while a second soldier died of non-combat related injuries, the military said.
It also said a roadside bomb killed a soldier near Mosul, and two American Marines were killed in the Anbar province on Sunday.
In other violence, according to police:
- Two suicide bombers slammed into a checkpoint on the outskirts of Baghdad, killing an Iraqi soldier and wounding eight.
- Gunmen killed Maj. Gen. Mohammad Thumeil, who served in former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's military, in Ramadi, 70 miles northwest of the capital.
- Gunmen clashed with Iraqi forces for about seven hours in Musayyib, 40 miles south of Baghdad, leaving one Iraqi soldier dead and about 100 gunmen arrested.
Al-Jazeerah editorial note regarding the purported Iraqi Shi'i-Sunni civil war:
It is inaccurate to describe the war in Iraq as if it is fought between Muslim Shi'is and Muslim Sunnis, as the US corporate media have been trying hard to do.
It is more accurate to describe it as fought between US-led forces and Iraqi resistance fighters. Even killing civilians is part of the war, as the evidence earlier demonstrated that Interior Ministry death squads and British soldiers were caught either targeting or attempting to target civilians to make the war appear as if it is between Shi'is and Sunnis.
This purported Shi'i-Sunni civil war in Iraq aims at distracting Iraqis and dividing their country into three regions, in preparation for a final partition and dismemberment of Iraq. Previous statements of Iraqi elected officials pointed fingers to death squads of the Interior Ministry.
(41 Iraqi Sunni Pedestrians Massacred in a Baghdad Street, 17 Shi'is Killed in Car Bombs, Interior Ministry Death Squads are Blamed).
Moreover, on September 19, 2005, two British soldiers were arrested by Iraqi police for driving a car bomb in a Basra street. They were freed by British forces before being interrogated by Iraqi police. This incident sheds some light on who might be behind car bomb explosions in Iraq.
(British Terrorist Operation in Basra, Tanks on Fire, Four Iraqis Killed, Two Captured British Undercover Soldiers Freed After Demolishing Prison Hollywood Style).
(British Occupation Forces Suspected Behind Sectarian Terrorism in Southern Iraq: The Two British Soldiers Drove a Car Bomb in Basra)
Source: AlJazeeraInfo
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