Survivors say Iraqi forces watched as Shi'ite militias executed 72 Sunnis

(Reuters) - Survivors tell the same story: they were taken from their homes by men in uniform; heads down and linked together, then led in small groups to a field, made to kneel, and selected to be shot one by one.

Accounts by five witnesses interviewed separately by Reuters provide a picture of alleged executions in the eastern village of Barwanah on Monday, which residents and provincial officials say left at least 72 unarmed Iraqis dead.

The witnesses identified the killers as a collection of Shi'ite militias and security force elements.

Iraqi security and government officials have disputed the accounts, with some saying radical jihadists from Islamic State could have perpetrated the killings.

The government said on Wednesday it was opening a probe into the killings.

"The prime minister has ordered an urgent investigation and we are awaiting the results," said Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's spokesman, Rafid Jaboori. "I don't want to come to any conclusions now. When the results of this investigation come out, we will have a full picture."

Iraq's Shi'ite-led government, backed by U.S.-led air strikes, has been trying to push back Islamic State since it swept through northern Iraq in June.

Monday's alleged massacre followed a three-day offensive in which Shi'ite militias and Iraqi security forces captured two dozen villages from Islamic State near the town of Muqdadiya in Diyala province.

Since September, hundreds of civilians have fled to Barwanah's relative safety from fighting in Sinsil, about 5 km (3 miles) to the southwest, and other nearby villages.

...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/28/mideast-crisis-iraq-killings-idINKBN0L12EB20150128?irpc=932