By Xinhua,
Tikrit, Iraq : U.S. troops found 14 unidentified bodies buried randomly near a city in Salahud in province on Thursday, a provincial police source said.
The troops discovered the bodies scattered in the open area of Jillam, some 20 km east of the city Samarra, and handed them over to the city police, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The victims were all men who have been killed recently with bullets holes in different parts of their bodies, the source said.
The deserted area, where the U.S. troops made the gruesome discovery, has long been a stronghold for Sunni extreme Islamists of al-Qaida who fight the U.S. and Iraqi troops, the source added.
Late in June, Iraqi security forces found 25 bodies buried in the Tharthar Lake area to the west of Samarra, some 120 km north of Baghdad.