25 bodies found in Baghdad: Ministry

Iraqi police found 25 bodies, all of whom were victims of Shia-Sunni clashes, discarded in various parts of Baghdad.

Iraqi police found 25 bodies discarded in various parts of Baghdad overnight, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday.

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The victims of sectarian clashes, were discovered between 7 pm Wednesday and 7 am Thursday in both Shiite and Sunni Muslim neighbourhoods, said Lt Col Falah al-Mohammedawi, an official with the ministry that oversees police.

The men were in civilian clothes and many had their hands bound.

The capital, where Sunnis and Shiites live side-by-side, has suffered a surge of sectarian killing since bombers destroyed an important Shiite shrine in Samarra on February 22 and ripped apart markets in a Baghdad Shiite slum on Sunday.

US and Iraqi officials blamed insurgents bent on fomenting civil war for both attacks.