Iraqi security forces uncovered some 100 badly decomposed bodies in a mass grave north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said on Saturday, one of the largest such finds in the country for months. U.S. and Iraqi security forces said it was not clear who was responsible for the grave near Khalis, 80 km north of Baghdad, or when the victims had been killed.
"Initial reports indicate it may contain the remains of approximately 100 people," U.S. military spokesman Major Winfield Danielson said, according to Reuters. Iraqi police said they suspected those in the grave were likely to have been killed some time after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.
"The skeletal remains appear to have been in the grave for a long time, and we have not yet determined who might be responsible for their death and burial," Danielson conveyed.
On his part, Police Col. Sabah al-Ambaqi said the grave was found in an orchard near al-Bu Tumaa, a Sunni village outside Khalis. According to the AP, he said authorities including both Iraqi and U.S. forces were conducting a search when they uncovered the site.
Meanwhile, police in Diyala reported two separate bombings Saturday in which six people died.
