8 mass graves unearthed in Diala

DIALA / IraqiNews.com: Eight mass graves with 25 unidentified bodies were unearthed north of Baaquba city on Sunday, the Diala police chief said. “Forces from al-Salam district police department today (March 8) discovered eight mass graves in the village of Al-Bu Tiema, al-Khalis district, (15 km) north of Baaquba,” Maj. General Abdulhussein al-Shimari told IraqiNews.com news agency. “The 25 unidentified bodies have all showed signs of having been shot,” he said. During the period that followed the launch of Operation Bashaer al-Kheir (Promise of Good) in July 2008, 20 mass graves with 130 bodies, mostly of civilians killed in sectarian strife, were discovered in al-Bu Tiema village. Those civilians were killed by Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) operatives after the armed network wielded power over the village and practiced forced relocation of its local residents. According to security source in the province, the village used to be a key stronghold of the AQI. Baaquba, the capital city of Diala province, lies 57 km northeast of Baghdad. AmR (P)/SR 1