IRAQ: Bodies of 22 kidnapped shephards turn up at Kerbala hospital, Roadside bomb explodes in Hilla wounding three policemen

Record ID: 784487

  • Title: IRAQ: Bodies of 22 kidnapped shephards turn up at Kerbala hospital, Roadside bomb explodes in Hilla wounding three policemen
  • Date: 8th April 2007
  • Summary: (W3) HILLA, IRAQ (APRIL 8, 2007) (REUTERS) (ON SCREEN GRAPHIC FROM CAMERA) CRATER CAUSED BY BLAST IRAQI ARMY VEHICLES CRATER IRAQI SOLDIERS DEPLOYING IN THE AREA VARIOUS OF IRAQI SOLDIERS SEARCHING HOUSES SOLDIERS CROSSING BRIDGE MORE OF IRAQI SOLDIERS DEPLOYING/ PATROLLING IN THE AREA
  • Embargoed: 23rd April 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Reuters ID: LVABXVBYLRCZVRNM85RZQ79JN31H
  • Story Text: Bodies of 22 shepherds kidnapped a couple of days ago in the holy city of Kerbala show up at a local hospital, while in the southern town of Hilla, a roadside bomb wounds three policemen.
    The bodies of 22 shepherds kidnapped by unknown gunmen were brought to a hospital in Kerbala on Sunday (April 8), hospital sources said.
    A hospital employee told Reuters that many of the bodies of the shepherds, who were kidnapped on Wednesday (April 4) in Kerbala, have already been collected for burial by their relatives. However, others remain in the hospital morgue.
    "The morgue has received the bodies of 22 shepherds. Some of them were collected by their families and others have not been identified yet," said Kadhim Hussein, a hospital worker.
    The Kerbala hospital did not give further details.
    Iraq is gripped by tit-for-tat sectarian killings between Shi'ite and Sunnis and many Iraqis fear their oil-rich nation passed the point of no return into sectarian division after the destruction of a Shi'ite shrine in February.
    Meanwhile in the southern town of Hilla, a roadside bomb went off next to police commandoes patrol, wounding three policemen, police said.
    They said that the attack took place in al-Jazaer area of eastern town of Hilla, about 60 miles south of Baghdad.
    The wounded were immediately taken to hospital for treatment.
    Afterwards, Iraqi troops raided the area where the bomb exploded, launching a house to house search. The Iraqi army in the town said that two suspected insurgents were detained during the raid.
    Hilla, 60 mile south of Baghdad, is a largely Shiite Muslim town that witnesses number of powerful blasts, claiming lives of hundreds of innocent civilians.
    There are about 100,000 Iraqi and U.S. forces deployed in Baghdad under a plan to sweep neighbourhoods and streets of Sunni Arab militants and Shi'ite militias.
    U.S. President George W. Bush is sending an additional 26,000 U.S. troops, mostly to boost the Baghdad plan.
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