Hostages killed in Iraq

The bodies of 14 Iraqi security officers were found dead today after a militant group claimed to have kidnapped them, Iraq’s Interior Ministry said.

Brigadier General Abdul-Karim Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said 14 bodies were found this afternoon in Diyala province north-east of Baghdad.

The Islamic State of Iraq, an al Qaida linked Sunni group, posted a statement on the Internet earlier today saying 18 men were kidnapped in retaliation for the alleged rape of a Sunni woman by members of Iraq’s Shiite-dominated police force.