Iraqi security forces found the bodies of 14 policemen Friday in Diyala province, after an al-Qaida-linked Sunni group said it abducted the men to avenge the alleged rape of a woman last month.
The group, the Islamic State of Iraq, said in a Web statement that it seized 18 men working for the Shi'ite dominated Interior Ministry.
The group later said it had killed them all after the government ignored its demands to release all Sunni female prisoners and to hand over those involved in the alleged rape.
In other news Friday, a car bomb ripped through a market in Baghdad's Shi'ite neighborhood Sadr City, killing 10 people and wounding 17 others.
Also, the U.S. military said a roadside bomb killed two soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter northwest of Baghdad.
Earlier, the military said coalition forces killed eight militants Thursday in a raid near Baghdad targeting al-Qaida in Iraq. A military statement said the raid took place in the Salman Pak region.
Some information for this report provided by Reuters and AP.
