BAGHDAD – The mayor of a small Shiite village south of Baghdad was kidnapped on his way to work Monday, and his bullet-riddled body was later found dumped along a highway, police and morgue officials said.
Police said Khalaf Ghargan, the mayor of Dijelah, was abducted by gunmen about 300 yards from his home. Witnesses said the kidnappers ambushed Ghargan's car, dragged him out and sped away. Two bodyguards and a driver were left behind, they said.
Dijelah lies just south of Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad. Kut is the capital of Wasit province.
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Ghargan's body was later found dumped on a highway and brought to the Kut morgue, said morgue official Maamoun Ajeel al-Rubaie. Another body, handcuffed and showing signs of torture, also turned up at the morgue Monday, he said.
Witnesses said Iraqi security forces were searching the area where the abduction took place.
A roadside bomb exploded Monday near a police patrol in Mosul, 225 miles) northwest of Baghdad, wounding two civilians, police said.
A day earlier in Qaim, 200 miles west of the capital, gunmen broke into the home of a policeman and killed him along with his two brothers, police said.
Complete coverage is available in FOXNews.com's Iraq Center.
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