Body of 21 people most likely killed by US occupation forces found in cemetery in Iraq’s Fallujah

The bodies of 21 people, most likley killed by the US occupation forces in the town of Fallujah, west of the Iraqi capital, were discovered on Tuesday in a cemetery.

According to Fallujah police chief Brigadier General Mahmud al-Essawi, the bodies were found in body-bags with Latin letters and numbers on them. "They were blindfolded, their legs were tied and they had suffered gunshot wounds," Essawi said.

The discovery was made in a section of Al-Maadhidi cemetery in the centre of the town, 60 kilometers (35 miles) west of Baghdad, as a grave was being dug in preparation for a funeral, a security official said on condition of anonymity.

Essawi and town mayor Adnan Hussein both said the dead were killed in 2004 when the US occupation army launched two major offensives on Fallujah to dislodge insurgents.

Hussein charged that the 21 were killed by US occupation forces. "The black body-bags and the manner in which they were buried proves this," he said.

According to AFP, the US military declined immediate comment on the report.