Aryanews- Gunmen wearing military uniforms stormed a Sunni Muslim village near Baghdad and killed 24 people, some of them former insurgents who turned against al Qaeda, Iraqi authorities said on Saturday.
The Iraqi military blamed the attack late on Friday on al Qaeda militants. The gunmen may have been pretending to be U.S. soldiers because they wore U.S.-style uniforms and sunglasses and spoke some English, according to a military source at the scene.
A police source said the gunmen handcuffed the victims in Albusaifi, a former al Qaeda village south of Baghdad, and shot them in the head.
At least seven people were left alive, their hands tied behind their backs, Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi said.
Ibrahim Talib, 14, told Reuters armed men came to his home with a list of names and asked for his mother, Ayda Hasan, 35.
"They said, 'Come outside, we want to ask you some questions.' When she went outside, they shot her," said Ibrahim, whose father was kidnapped by al Qaeda in 2007 and has not been seen since.
Iraqi authorities had warned of a possible escalation of violence due to rising tensions surrounding a March 7 parliamentary election that produced no clear winner.
A Defence Ministry spokesman said 24 people had been arrested and 15 others were being sought.
Iraqi and U.S. troops sealed off the village at the end of a winding dirt road that had many security checkpoints on it. Troops escorted reporters to the site, limited contact with villagers and forbade filming.
Asked who he suspected, a man in his 40s pointed at soldiers and said, "Don't ask me, ask the Iraqi army. They know who did this."
The attack was launched from a nearby village that is an al Qaeda stronghold, a Defence Ministry spokesman said.
"We call this area Kandahar," an Iraqi officer said, referring to the Afghan city that is a Taliban strongpoint.