Twenty bodies found in Iraq mass grave

BAGHDAD - Iraqi security forces found a mass grave containing the bodies of around 20 men, women and children near the former insurgent stronghold of Falluja, police said.

They said the bodies were partly decomposed and had been found northeast of Falluja in an area once controlled by militants.

Falluja lies in western Anbar province, formerly the heart of the Sunni Arab insurgency and an area where al Qaeda also had a strong presence until Sunni Arab tribal sheikhs joined forces with the US military to pacify the region.

Security forces have found several mass graves in recent months containing bodies of people believed to be victims of sectarian attacks that swept the country after a sacred Shi'ite shrine was bombed nearly two years ago.

- REUTERS