Iraqi Ministry to Probe Death Squad Charges
The Iraqi Interior Ministry on Thursday announced an investigation of allegations that death squads operate in its Shiite-dominated ranks as police found the bodies of a dozen men who had been bound and shot in the head.
Iraqi security officials said the probe would focus on a single incident involving 22 Iraqi police officers who U.S. authorities said were detained north of Baghdad last month before they were able to kill a Sunni Arab man they had arrested.
However, Sunni Arabs have been complaining for months about kidnappings and killings by Shiite-led commandos connected to the Interior Ministry. Maj. Gen. Hussein Kamal, Iraq’s deputy interior minister in charge of domestic intelligence, hinted that the scope of the probe could expand.
In other violence, three tribal sheiks were slain in a drive-by shooting, three supporters of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada Sadr died in a mortar barrage and gunmen killed two owners of a store that sold beer.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
