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22 killed in Iraq blast

BAGHDAD: Twenty beheaded bodies were discovered on Thursday on the banks of the Tigris River southeast of Baghdad, and a parked car bomb killed another 22 persons in one of the capital’s busy outdoor bus stations, police said.

The bodies — all men aged 20 to 40 years old — had their hands and legs bound, and some of the heads were found next to the bodies, two officers said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to release the information.

The remains were found in the Sunni Muslim village of Um al-Abeed, near the city of Salman Pak, which lies 20 km southeast of Baghdad.

The victims’ identities were unknown, but they were found in an area where Shia travellers have been kidnapped and killed in the past, en route to the Shia-dominated provinces of Wasit, Maysan and Basra.

Meanwhile, a parked car bomb ripped through a transport hub in Baghdad’s Baiyaa neighbourhood at morning rush hour, killing 22 persons and wounding 50, another officer said on the same condition.

Many of the victims had been lining up for buses, awaiting a ride to work.

Some 40 minibuses were incinerated in the explosion, police said. — AP

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