American troops have discovered some 30 bodies in a mass grave north of Baghdad of people buried nearly eight months ago, the American military said Monday. The grave was found on Sunday south of the town of Muqdadiyah in the restive Diyala province, north of Baghdad.
"The coalition force was unable to determine whether or not the bodies had been tortured at the time of death," the military said in a statement, cited by AFP. "All the bodies were badly decomposed and appear to have been at the site nearly eight months."
Meanwhile, Iraq's government moved Sunday to restore discipline within the ranks of the security forces, sacking more than 1,300 troops and policemen who deserted during recent fighting against Shiite militias in Basra. At the same time, Iraq's Cabinet ratcheted up the pressure on Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr by approving draft legislation barring political parties with militias from participating in upcoming provincial elections.
Al-Sadr's followers are eager to take part in the local elections because they believe they can take power away from rival Shiite parties in the vast, oil-rich Shiite heartland of southern Iraq.
