LOC16:06
13:06 GMT
BAGHDAD, Sept 28 (KUNA) -- The bodies of a murdered Sunni Iraqi police
lieutenant and his wife were recovered in Baghdad's Adhamiyah neighborhood
three days ago, a US army statement said on Friday.
The couple had been abducted several days before by Sunni insurgents, the
statement quoting a relative as saying, adding that the bodies were discovered
dumped in a pile of trash beneath a pedestrian overpass in the Sunni-dominated
neighborhood of Adhamiyah in Baghdad.
Both victims appeared to have been killed by gunshot wounds to the head.
The police lieutenant also had drill holes in his face that indicated he
was tortured before being executed, said 1st Lieutenant Daniel Lake with the
3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment of the US unit responsible for security in
the Adhamiyah area.
Lake said the lieutenant and his wife; both Sunnis, were most likely
targeted by Sunni terrorists associated with al-Qaeda in Iraq or Islamic
Government of Iraq because of their involvement with security efforts.
Sunni-on-Sunni violence now makes up the majority of violence in northeast
Baghdad, following a significant drop in sectarian violence between the Shiite
and Sunni communities since the Baghdad security plan began, said Lieutenant
Colonel David Oclander, executive officer of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd
Airborne Division.
To that, another Army statement said that three Iraqi high-level government
officials at Baghdad's International Airport, who were suspected of involving
in insurgent acts against Iraqi and US troops, were detained.
The "corrupt officials", according to the statement, were attempting to
form a network to petrify innocent Iraqi civilians, by conducting kidnappings
and attacks on Iraqis and US forces. (end)
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