Speculation Alert: DEBKAfileIraqi police say SadrÂ’s militiamen tried to stop US troops from entering the Mustafa Mosque to make arrests. Witnesses say the dead were unarmed worshippers. The US military has not commented on that incident. At the same time American sources report US troops arrested in Baghdad Iraqi soldiers holding 40 hostages. No details provided of this incident.
In the Mull Eed village near Baquba, 30 mostly headless bodies were found on the main street, many of them shot. Another 13 bodies were found earlier Sunday in Baghdad. These episodes fit with the sectarian violence raging in Iraq since last monthÂ’s blast at the Shiite Golden Dome mosque in Samarrah.