48 More Bodies Found Dumped in Baghdad

Police said Saturday that they had recovered 48 bodies throughout Baghdad, bringing the toll from clandestine killings since Monday to about 190 people, most of them shot execution-style.

The vast majority of the bodies found during a 24-hour period in Baghdad were of young men who had been tortured, blindfolded and handcuffed before being shot several times, said Capt. Mohammed Hanoon of the Interior Ministry.

Securing the capital has become the top priority for American commanders in Iraq, who have deployed an additional 8,000 troops there in an effort to halt escalating sectarian violence.

To prevent fighters from entering Baghdad and to counter trafficking of explosives and arms, U.S. and Iraqi security forces are digging ditches and building berms around the capital, creating a 60-mile security perimeter, U.S. officials say.

Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a military spokesman, said Saturday that the plan would also use existing topographical features such as canals and rivers to stem the flow of contraband.

In the past, the military has built sand barriers around cities such as Fallouja and Tall Afar before major combat operations there. But Baghdad is a far more complex problem.

The deadliest threat is not explosives or large-scale attacks by Sunni-led insurgents but rather secret executions. Shiite-dominated Iraqi security forces have been accused of carrying out systematic killings of Sunni residents in the capital.

During a news conference Saturday, Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Abdul Khalaf said digging a trench around Baghdad was just one idea among many.

“It’s still under discussion,” he said.

As police recovered the bodies Saturday, several bombs targeted civilians, politicians and security forces in the capital.

In one attack, insurgents had allegedly placed explosives in or near a corpse, detonating the bomb when the Iraqi army arrived to pick up the body. One soldier died and three people were injured.

Armed men attacked police at a Baghdad checkpoint near the Sheraton Hotel, starting a gun battle with hotel guards, authorities said.

Meanwhile, a suicide attacker killed one civilian and injured 22 in an attack on a police station in the Dora neighborhood of southern Baghdad.

North of Baghdad near Baqubah, a bomb exploded near a police patrol, killing three officers and injuring one.

A second bomb -- left in a bag near a downtown shopping area -- killed one person and injured four.

A third bomb killed three police officers and injured two in Zafarniya.

In Saddam Hussein’s hometown, Tikrit, north of Baghdad, police and witnesses described intense fighting involving rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

One witness, Salim Shammari, a 43-year-old taxi driver, said he watched four armed men attack the municipal building, which was guarded by American troops.

Four armed men “shouted to everybody to leave the place,” Shammari said.

They were well armed, he said.

“One of them said, ‘We do not want anybody to stay here,’ ” Shammari recalled. “We immediately ran away.” Hiding in a house, he heard fierce shooting, he said.

Police Lt. Saad Jabir said the gun battle injured several people.

Farther north, in the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, a roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol; the casualty toll was unclear. Gunmen also attacked a police checkpoint on the northern highway between Hawija and Kirkuk, injuring two policemen, officials said. Two attackers also died.

louise.roug@latimes.com

Times staff writers Saif Rasheed and Saif Hameed contributed to this report.