By Xinhua,
Baghdad : Iraqi security forces have found a mass grave containing 33 decomposed bodies in a village in the volatile province of Diyala, an Interior Ministry source said on Sunday.
Based on information from local residents, the forces discovered the site of the mass grave on Saturday in the Albu-Tu’ma village near the town of Khalis, 75 km northeast of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Bodies of children and women were among the bullet-riddled bodies, the source said, adding that the remains have been buried for more than a year.
The forces believe the victims were kidnapped and killed by the al-Qaida members who were controlling the area at that time, said the source.
Diyala province, which stretches from eastern edges of Baghdad to the Iranian border, has been the stronghold of al-Qaida network in Iraq and other insurgent groups since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
U.S. and Iraqi security forces frequently discover mass graves in different parts of Iraq for people killed in chaos and sectarian strife.