U.S. troops have discovered four decapitated bodies and captured dozens of militants during operations to purge northern Mosul of insurgents, the military said Saturday. All four bodies, whose identities were not established, were found on Thursday, and have been turned over to Iraqi authorities, said Lt. Col. Paul Hastings, a spokesman for Task Force Olympia. Three of the bodies were found by the roadside in a northeastern neighborhood of Mosul, while the fourth body was discovered in the southwestern part of the city, he said. "Our troops came across them. They were by the roadside," Hastings said.
Good Lord, what our troops must be going through because of these sick, demented killers.
On Friday, a statement posted on an Islamist Web site in the name of Jordanian terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group said it had "slaughtered" two Iraqi National Guard officers "in the presence of a big crowd" in Mosul. The claim included no photos or video and could not be verified.
| Any word on which part of the Geneva Conventions apply here? Amnesia International? Human Rights Watch? Bueller? Anyone? |
There was no way of saying whether the bodies had been decapitated in a public manner, as the Web site claimed, said Hastings, adding that U.S. troops were "not able to identify them and say whether they were bodies of Iraqi National Guard, police or just anybody." |