Severed heads discovered in fruit boxes
(Filed: 06/06/2006)
Police have found nine severed heads in fruit boxes by the side of a road in Iraq, the second such discovery this week.
The discovery was made near the city of Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, in a region that is experiencing an upsurge of sectarian violence.
The heads - all men - have been taken to the city morgue, and an investigation has now been launched.
Eight severed heads were found in a nearby village on Saturday, with a note indicating that the executions were in retaliation for the killing of Shia officials.
The region of Diyala has become accustomed to killings and bomb attacks, but in recent weeks insurgents have adopted particularly gruesome and bloody methods as they attempt to drive Iraq's religious communities apart.
On Sunday, gunmen dragged 24 people - many of them students on their way to take exams - out of a convoy of minibuses and shot them dead.
Iraq's new prime minister today said he would order the release of 2,500 prisoners from Iraqi- and US-controlled jails in an effort to ease sectarian tensions and unify the country.
Nuri al-Maliki promised that convicted terrorists would not be among those granted their freedom.