Gunmen kidnapped and assassinated a tribal chief after taking him away at gunpoint along with several bodyguards who were also shot to death, according to a security official.
Qassem Al-Janabi, the chief of Al-Janabeyeen clan, was assassinated after he was kidnapped with his niece, MP Zaid Al-Janabi, in southern Baghdad, announced Colonel Saad Maan, spokesman of the Baghdad operations command, in a statement to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), on Saturday. The gunmen released Zaid, but corpses of his uncle and eight of their bodyguards were found on the Baghdad-Mahmoudiyah road northeast of the capital, he revealed.
The dead bodies were found in three four-wheel vehicles under a causeway, Col. Maan told KUNA.
A police officer, who examined the scene, said dead bodies were located there. They had been shot to death with their hands tied and faces masked.
There was no specific word about identity of the gunmen.