There’s something rotten in Baquba, Iraq.
And, it’s not the headless bodies.
Photos taken at Baquba morgue- On February 9th and 12th.
These photos from the morgue in Baquba were supposedly taken days apart after a the discovery of mass beheadings. But, notice that this same man is standing in the same exact spot wearing the same exact clothes covering his mouth four days apart.
It looks like another bogus headless story is making the rounds tonight from Diyala Province in Iraq.
Reuters reported:
The bodies of 13 men have been found in a mass grave in Iraq’s restive Diyala province, the latest in a series of grisly discoveries, police said on Tuesday.
They said the unidentified bodies had been dumped in a hole in the town of Muqdadiya, 90 km (55 miles) northeast of Baghdad, and that they had been found by U.S. forces.
However, a U.S. military spokesman said they had no reports of the find and that U.S. soldiers were not involved.
A local journalist told Reuters he had seen the bodies. Police said they were found handcuffed, had gunshot wounds in the head and showed signs of torture.
Even though attacks across Iraq have fallen by 60 percent since last June, ethnically mixed Diyala remains a headache for the U.S. and Iraqi forces.
The Multi-National Force Iraq Press Desk has investigated and has no record of this gruesome massacre.
Here is what they sent me earlier:
Jim,
We spoke with MND-N last night (still today for you) and they have not
been able to confirm this. They are continuing to look into it; I’ll let
you know if they send an update.SGT Nicole Dykstra
Press Desk NCO
Communications Division
Strategic Effects, MNF-I
Now… Here is the photo that was released today from a Stringer for Reuters at the Baquba morgue:
The bodies of 13 men found in a mass grave are unloaded at a hospital morgue in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, February 12, 2008. U.S. forces found the bodies in a mass grave in Iraq’s restive Diyala province, police said, in the latest such grisly find in recent months. (REUTERS/Stringer)
And… Here is a photo released last weekend by the AP:
Morgue workers inspect bodies brought to hospital in Baqouba, capital of Iraq’s Diyala province, 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad, Iraq Saturday, Feb. 9, 2008. A joint patrol of Iraqi police and soldiers found a mass grave with 12 bodies, including three women, according to police. (AP Photo)
McClatchy Watch thinks there is more to this story from Baquba.
UPDATE: (Wednesday AM) There were bodies found after the incident was investigated.
I received this from MNF-Iraq this morning:
INITIAL REPORT:
101319: DURING MEDOP MISSION CONDUCTED ON 09FEB08, 2/D/1-68 RECEIVED A TIP REGARDING THE LOCATION FOR A MASS GRAVE SITE; 2/D/1-68 CONDUCT A SEARCH AND FOUND THE REMAINS OF 10-12 X BODIES (ONLY BONES), SOME OF WHICH LOOKED LIKE THEIR HANDS WERE TIED BEHIND THEIR BACKS, AND 3 X SKULLS, ONE OF WHICH APPEARS TO HAVE A BULLET HOLE. IP CONDUCTING JOINT PATROL WITH PTT ARRIVED ON SITE AND CONTINUED THE INVESTIGATION. AFTER FURTHER ANALYSIS IPS/PTT DETERMINED THERE WERE 7 X SKULLS AND 3 X TORSOS ALONG WITH OTHER VARIOUS BODY PARTS . ALL AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF DECOMPOSITION. PTT REPORTS IT WILL CONTINUE INVESTIGATION WITH IPS TOMORROW DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS. DUE TO THE DECOMPOSITION OF THE BODIES, THEY HAVE LIKELY BEEN THERE FOR MONTHS. THE GRAVE SITE MAY BE REMNANTS OF THE VIOLENCE FROM THE SAMARA MOSQUE BOMBINGS IN JUN 07.
