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"The joint excavation crews have discovered 16 bodies of men
who were blindfolded and had their hands tied behind their
backs," said the district chief Mohammed Mulla Hassan, from the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party.
"They were found in the Kobachi area, which is part of Saadiya
District, and they were executed in the past few months," he
added.
A joint search team from the Kurdistan regional government in
northern Iraq and Baghdad's human rights ministry made the
discovery.
Hassan put the blame for the killings on the Sunni jihadists of
Islamic State, who controlled the area until late November when
they were forced out by Shi'ite militias fighting on behalf of
the Baghdad government.
Shi'ite militias have also been accused of atrocities when
retaking land from Islamic State, which swept across northern
Iraq last summer as the Iraqi army collapsed.
(Reporting By Saif Hameed, Ned Parker; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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