US forces find Iraq mass grave, battle insurgents

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2007

BAGHDAD (AFP) — US forces found around 40 bodies, bound and shot, in a fresh mass grave south of Fallujah, the military said Saturday as it reported 26 militants were killed in heavy fighting in Baghdad.

"A local Iraqi citizen's tip led coalition forces to the site of a mass grave late Friday evening outside Ferris, approximately 35 kilometers (21 miles) south of Fallujah," in western Anbar province, the military said.

"Coalition forces uncovered 35 to 40 bodies at the site. The remains were bound and had gunshot wounds."

Major Jeff Pool, spokesman for US forces in Anbar, said US Army soldiers found the grave after a tip-off.

"There were gunshots to the head and torso. Some of them had been bound, they were executed. It was recent," he said, adding...