Group claims to have killed Italian hostages

In a second claim in 24 hours, a militant group claimed on the internet to have killed two Italian women hostages in Iraq.

Earlier an internet statement by a group which had claimed to have kidnapped two women aid workers in Iraq has said that it has killed its hostages.

The website where the statement by the Jihad Organisation was posted has not been regularly used by Iraqi militants to relay their statements.

The Islamic Jihad Organisation in Iraq had been the second group to have claimed to be holding the Italian women before today's claim. Another group, Zawhri supporters, had claimed the kidnapping before the Jihad statement.