Terror group posts Web video of execution of 18 Iraqi troopsCAIRO (AP) — The al-Qaeda affiliated Islamic State of Iraq posted on Saturday a video of the execution of 18 Iraqi security troops, shot in the back of their heads while kneeling on the ground in a field.
The 3-minute video, on a website known to be used by the Islamists, said the 18 kidnapped government security forces were slain in retaliation for the alleged rape of a Sunni woman by members of the Shiite-dominated police. The video's authenticity could not be immediately verified.
The tape firsts depicts the 18 men, some in Iraqi military uniforms, blindfolded, hands tied behind their backs and lined up in three rows in front of a screen. The men in the front row are kneeling down. Armed masked men were seen pointing machine-guns at the captives.
Male voices chant repeatedly in Arabic during the video: "At your service sister" — a likely reference to the revenge for the allegedly raped Sunni woman.
Another male voice is heard reading the Islamic State of Iraq's statement posted on Friday on the same website, saying the group's court has ordered the 18 security troops executed because Iraqi Prime minister Nouri al-Maliki's government failed to meet their demands and hand over the officers who allegedly assaulted the Sunni woman, and to release all female detainees from Iraqi prisons.
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Then the video moves to the scene of execution with the men lined up kneeling on the ground in a field by a citrus grove, with date palm trees in the background. They are still blindfolded, hands tied in the back.
Two masked militants, with checkered kaffiya scarves on their heads, fire from close range into the back of the heads of the men from handguns, as a third militant carries a banner ahead of them. The victims fall head forward to the ground. The spray of bullets is accompanied by chants "Allahu Akbar," or God is the Great.
The Islamist group did not say when the 18 security troops when kidnapped in Diyala province.
