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MOSUL,
Iraq, Nov 25 (AFP) - Three bodies, including
those of a Kurdish bodyguard and a member of the
Iraqi security forces, were found Thursday in Mosul,
the latest in a string of grim discoveries in the
northern city over the past week.
They bring to 28 the number of bodies discovered in
Mosul in recent days, after US and Iraqi troops
launched a vast operation last week to root out the
insurgency in the country's third largest city.
Two bodies were found dumped at the Al-Yarmuk
roundabout, one of the most active insurgent spots
in the city, as US troops were patrolling the area,
an AFP journalist embedded with the US military
reported.
One of the bodies was blindfolded with a
black-and-white chequered keffieh, or headscarf, and
carried an ID indicating that he belonged to the
Iraqi security forces.
A few meters (yards) away lay the bullet-ridden body
of another man. A small embroidered badge bearing
the Kurdish flag, which appeared to have been ripped
from his uniform, lay on his stomach.
The dead man -- who was carrying a card identifying
him as a bodyguard for the human rights ministry of
the regional government of Kurdistan -- had his head
covered with a black banner bearing some Islamic
script.
As members of Iraq's national guard, escorted by US
troops on foot and in armored vehicles, were lifting
the bodies into body bags they were fired on with
rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire at
about 4:00 pm (1300 GMT).
US troops returned fire and one Iraqi national
guardsman was wounded in the incident.
A third body was found by national guardsmen near
the New Mosul police station.
"We heard the gunshots and went and saw the body
dumped by a mosque with a piece of paper on it
saying 'this is the destiny of the national guard',"
said Saif Salem of the national guard.
On Tuesday, an Apache helicopter located five bodies
on the western fringes of Mosul, but they have yet
to be picked up or identified.
Before that, a total of 20 bodies, mostly identified
as being those of Iraqi soldiers, were found dumped
on the streets of Mosul.
11/25/2004 18:35 GMT - AFP
Copyright © 2004 Agence France Presse. All rights
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