Iraqi soldiers uncovered two mass graves containing at least 30 bodies of men and women in a former al-Qaeda stronghold northwest of Baghdad, the US military said today.
The graves were uncovered on Saturday during an operation by US and Iraqi forces against al-Qaeda in Iraq cells operating in the Lake Tharthar region, about 80km northwest of the capital.
An Iraqi officer said several large holes dug by mechanical excavators and left uncovered had been found in a remote area about 25km north of the Anbar provincial capital of Ramadi.
"We found in one of them 22 partially decomposed corpses," he said.
He said the skeletal remains of another eight people were found in another hole nearby. Male and female clothing as well as two Iraqi army identification badges were found.
Winter and summer clothing had been found, indicating that bodies in the graves had been killed at different times. The graves were in an area once known to be used by al-Qaeda.
Mass graves are found relatively regularly in Iraq, often containing the bodies of large groups kidnapped and killed by insurgent groups and militias, or the victims of mass executions carried out under Saddam Hussein.