Iraqi police find bullet-riddled bodies of 23 men
Police found the bullet-riddled bodies of 23 men today who had been kidnapped north of Baghdad during the week after being rejected entry into a police training academy.
The bodies were found partially buried by dirt in the village of Nibaei, near Dujail, about 50 miles miles north of Baghdad, said Interior Ministry police Lt. Thair Mahmoud.
The men were among 35 returning on a bus from Baghdad to their homes in Samarra, 60 miles north of the Iraqi capital, on January 18 after failing to be accepted into a police recruit centre, said Capt. Laith Mohammed of Samarra police.
Militants stopped the bus at a makeshift checkpoint near Nibaei and abducted the men, who were found with application letters to the academy, police said.
Mohammed said the 23 bodies were each had bullet wounds to their heads and other parts of their bodies.
Insurgents have targeted Iraqi security forces in a bloody campaign of killings and kidnappings aimed at frightening locals from aiding the US-led reconstruction of this war-ravaged country.
