70 Bodies Found in Tigris River & Soccer Stadium

(Baghdad, Iraq) Totaling more than 70, the bodies of men, women, and children were recovered from the Tigris River at Suwayra, south of Baghdad, and in a soccer stadium in Haditha, northwest of Baghdad. Some of the bodies in the river were decapitated. In the soccer stadium, at, least 20 men had been lined up against a wall and shot.

President Jalal Talabani announced the discovery of the bodies in the river, which are believed to have been hostages taken from the town of Madain last week. Suwayra is downstream on the Tigris from Madain. The Iraqi President also stated that the names of the victims are known as well as the names of the terrorist murderers who are responsible.

Shiite Muslim leaders and the government blame Sunni Muslim killers for the deaths of the people found in the river. The Sunnis had issued threats to the Shiites in Madain saying they would be killed if they didn't leave the town. Next came the abductions and murders.

In Haditha, the men shot and killed in the soccer stadium are believed to be off-duty Iraqi Forces personnel in civilian clothes that were abducted while shopping. The murderers have been incorrectly called "insurgents" even though the massacre has all the telltale attributes of a Zarqawi-led terrorist atrocity.

[Update] Chad Evans provides his take at In The Bullpen that the murders in Haditha were most likely the evil work of Ansar al-Sunnah which has a history of repeatedly targeting the Iraq military and executing people by gunshot. Although there's presently no information to confirm who is responsible for the murders, I'll defer to Chad's judgment.