Iraq: Deadly militant attack

Iraqi authorities said Sunday that unidentified militants had attacked a military base in northern Iraq, killing 20 soldiers, some after first abducting them.

Police sources said the assault took place late on Saturday night at a barracks in the village of Ayn al-Jahish, just south of the northern city of Mosul. Other reports said it had occurred earlier in the week.

A medical official said 11 of the troops had had their hands tied behind their backs before being shot at close range in the head. Police said others died when the insurgents stormed the barracks.

The assailants are reported to have arrived in a large group, and abducted the soldiers in several vehicles.

The troops had been in charge of protecting an oil pipeline transporting crude oil to international markets and guarding a nearby highway.

Pipeline common target

The pipeline is a common target for militant attacks in the region near Mosul, some 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of the capital, Baghdad.

The latest attack comes after militants killed 12 soldiers and wounded 15 on April 17 at another military base west of Mosul, which is the capital of restive Nineveh province, one of the most violent areas in Iraq.

Iraq is experiencing a surge of violence that has reached levels unseen in the country since 2008. The government has repeatedly put the blame for the protracted unrest on external factors such as the civil war in neighboring Syria.

But analysts and diplomats say that much of the violence stems from widespread resentment among the minority Sunni Arab community at what it perceives as mistreatment and discrimination at the hands of the Shiite-led authorities.

tj/ipj (AFP, AP)