The bodies of 16 people who appeared to have been executed were discovered in western Iraq, witnesses said today.
Police said 22 Iraqi soldiers from the mainly Shia south were kidnapped after leaving their base in the town of Qaim, a stronghold of the Sunni Muslim insurgency near the Syrian border.
It was not immediately clear if the victims, who were in civilian clothes and left in two different locations near Qaim, were those soldiers. Many were blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs.
Eleven of the bodies were scattered in a gravel pit and five were left beside a desert road often used by soldiers. Two of the men were beheaded.
Al-Qaeda's group in Iraq said yesterday it was holding 36 Iraqi soldiers hostage and demanded the government free all women prisoners within 24 hours, according to a web statement.
The Sunni Muslim group, which has often abducted and killed officials and soldiers, said the 36 were being questioned about their “crimes against Sunnis”.