Baghdad shootings and bomb blasts claim 23 lives

Baghdad: At least 23 people were killed in bomb attacks and shootings around Iraq on Monday.

The deadliest attacks were in Baghdad, where at least 19 people were killed in two car bombings, while an Iraqi police chief was killed in an ambush in the southern port city of Basra.

A parked car exploded on a road leading to the Housing and Municipality Ministry building in the Bab Al Mudham district in Central Baghdad.

Government figures issued on Saturday showed that the total number of Iraqis killed in February was up by 33 per cent over the previous month, reversing six months of falling death tolls.

Mass grave: 14 bodies with bullet wound found

Baghdad: The US military reported on Monday finding a grave containing 14 people, believed to be members of the Iraqi security forces and thought to have been executed by Al Qaida in Iraq.

The US military said its soldiers discovered 14 bodies on Sunday in a mass grave south of the city of Samarra, located about 95km north of Baghdad.

The military said all the victims had their hands tied behind their backs and had been shot in the head - execution style.

"Coalition and Iraqi forces believe Al Qaida in Iraq is responsible for these murders. The victims are believed to have been members of Iraqi security forces or Sons of Iraq," a military announcement said.