Funerals were held for 50 unidentified bodies found last week in a ditch close to the village of al-Hafriya. The village lies within the administrative borders of the southern province of Wasit. "The bodies were found last week scattered in orchards 
Most of them were shot in the head. There were women and children among them with obvious traces of torture," a police officer, who refused to be named, told the newspaper. The village is part of the restive district of Madain which was the scene of heavy clashes between US troops and gunmen last week.
Of the 50 bodies only one was identified, according to the officer who gave the victim's name as Faleh Abdulridha. He said the funerals were held following a court order to bury the victims. "All the bodies were photographed before burial to enable relatives identify their beloved ones and their graves," the officer added. It is currently quite common in Iraq to come across unidentified bodies of people stabbed, blown up, beheaded or simply shot in the head. The cost of rampant crime, violence and chaos in Iraq is estimated at tens of thousands of unidentified bodies whose refrigeration and burial has become a nightmare to morgues and police across the country. |