Police ambushed after 27 bodies found in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Jan 6 (Reuters) Iraqi police clashed with gunmen in central Baghdad today when they went to investigate a report that 27 bodies had been found in one location near a cemetery, police and interior ministry sources said.

Dozens of bodies are found every day around Baghdad, many tortured and shot dead, the victims of militia death squads.

A source at Baghdad police headquarters said local police in the area near Haifa Street, in central Baghdad, had found 27 bodies and called in reinforcements. When they arrived, they came under fire from gunmen.

The police source said they then called in support from U S forces. An interior ministry source also said there had been clashes in the area.

Sectarian attacks, bombings, mortars and death squads are killing hundreds of people every week and driving people out of their homes as Baghdad becomes increasingly divided on sectarian lines amid fears Iraq is descending into full-scale civil war.

REUTERS AB BS1851