Iraq: Bombs Explode in Baghdad as Photos of War Atrocities Surface

This image from a militant website posted on 14 June appears to show militants leading away captured soldiers in Tikrit, Iraq.

Iraq: Bombs Explode in Baghdad as Photos of War Atrocities Surface

Iraq violence continues with no end in sight

Violent evidence of civil war and atrocities surfaced in Iraq on Sunday as explosions claimed lives in the nation's capital of Baghdad and released images claimed to show captured Iraqi Army soldiers in northern cities being executed by members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

According to the Associated Press:

Iraqi police and hospital officials say a string of explosions in Baghdad has killed at least 15 people and wounded more than 30.

In the city center, a car bomb killed 10 and wounded 21. After nightfall, another explosion hit the area, killing two and wounding five. The third went off near a falafel shop in the city's sprawling Sadr City district, killing three and wounding seven.

Baghdad has seen an escalation in suicide and car bombings in recent months, mostly targeting Shiite neighborhoods or security forces.

Meanwhile, the Guardian reports on the photographs of what appear to be massacred Iraqi soldiers posted on a website used by ISIL militants:

The pictures on a militant website appear to show masked fighters of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis) loading captives on to flatbed trucks before forcing them to lie face-down in a shallow ditch with their arms tied behind their backs. The final images appear to show the bodies of the captives soaked in blood after being shot.

Captions say the killings were carried out to avenge the death of an Isis commander, Abdul-Rahman al-Beilawy, whose death was reported by both the government and Isis shortly before the al-Qaida splinter group captured Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, and Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit in a lightning offensive.

Iraq's top military spokesman, Lt Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, confirmed the photos' authenticity on Sunday and said he was aware of cases of mass murder of captured Iraqi soldiers in areas held by Isis.

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