BAGHDAD, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Sunni Muslims in Iraq are increasingly reporting kidnappings of family members and execution-style slayings by the Shiite-majority security forces.
Some Sunni men have been found dead in ditches and fields, with bullet holes in their temples, acid burns on their skin and holes in their bodies apparently made by electric drills, while many others have simply vanished, the New York Times reported Tuesday.
Many of the claims have been substantiated by at least one human rights organization working in Baghdad, which asked not to be identified because of reprisal concerns.
U.S. officials have acknowledged police officers and Iraqi soldiers may indeed be carrying out killings and abductions in Sunni communities.
But Interior Minister Bayan Jabr and other government officials deny any government involvement, saying the killings were carried out by men driving stolen police cars and wearing police and army uniforms purchased at local markets.
"That is totally wrong. It's only rumors -- it is nonsense," Jabr said.
