jesuitsdidit
30-12-2009, 04:09 PM
Unidentified militants have killed five Sunni Sahwa tribal fighters in an apparent execution-style attack at a village checkpoint in central Iraq.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=114927§ionid=351020201
Gunmen kill 5 anti-Qaeda fighters in Iraq
Wed, 30 Dec 2009 02:32:50 GMT
Unidentified militants have killed five Sunni Sahwa tribal fighters in an apparent execution-style attack at a village checkpoint in central Iraq.
The attackers entered the checkpoint in the village of Tal Massoud -- about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Baghdad -- on Tuesday shortly after 2 a.m. local time (2300 GMT) and fatally shot the security guards, who were members of the Sunni Khazraj tribe, said a police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The police official described a scene of bullet-riddled bodies littered across the checkpoint. One of the bodies had been beheaded, he added.
The leader of the village Awakening Council, Awad Sami al-Halbosi, said he also inspected the bodies after the checkpoint shooting.
“The families of the victims were called and asked to take their sons for burial, which was done,” al-Halbosi stated.
Al-Sahwa (Awakening) members are mostly former Sunni militants who fought US and Iraqi forces after the 2003 US-led invasion of the country but helped curb violence since late 2006 when they sided with the Iraqi government to battle Al-Qaeda due to its harsh rhetoric and attacks against Iraqi civilians.
The Sunni-dominated security force has been targeted in revenge attacks after helping turn the tide against the Al-Qaeda terrorist network in Iraq.
Since the beginning of 2009, nearly all the Sahwas have been placed on the Iraqi government payroll. Iraq maintains that 20 percent of the fighters will be recruited by the country's security forces and that most of the remainder will be considered for civilian jobs.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=114927§ionid=351020201
Gunmen kill 5 anti-Qaeda fighters in Iraq
Wed, 30 Dec 2009 02:32:50 GMT
Unidentified militants have killed five Sunni Sahwa tribal fighters in an apparent execution-style attack at a village checkpoint in central Iraq.
The attackers entered the checkpoint in the village of Tal Massoud -- about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Baghdad -- on Tuesday shortly after 2 a.m. local time (2300 GMT) and fatally shot the security guards, who were members of the Sunni Khazraj tribe, said a police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The police official described a scene of bullet-riddled bodies littered across the checkpoint. One of the bodies had been beheaded, he added.
The leader of the village Awakening Council, Awad Sami al-Halbosi, said he also inspected the bodies after the checkpoint shooting.
“The families of the victims were called and asked to take their sons for burial, which was done,” al-Halbosi stated.
Al-Sahwa (Awakening) members are mostly former Sunni militants who fought US and Iraqi forces after the 2003 US-led invasion of the country but helped curb violence since late 2006 when they sided with the Iraqi government to battle Al-Qaeda due to its harsh rhetoric and attacks against Iraqi civilians.
The Sunni-dominated security force has been targeted in revenge attacks after helping turn the tide against the Al-Qaeda terrorist network in Iraq.
Since the beginning of 2009, nearly all the Sahwas have been placed on the Iraqi government payroll. Iraq maintains that 20 percent of the fighters will be recruited by the country's security forces and that most of the remainder will be considered for civilian jobs.