US soldiers 'slaughtered'
2006-06-20 15:37
Cairo - The umbrella group for Iraqi insurgents claimed responsibility for killing two US soldiers in an internet posting on Tuesday.
"We give the good news ... to the Islamic nation that we have carried God's verdict by slaughtering the two captured crusaders," said a statement in the name of the Mujahedeen Shura Council, which groups five insurgent organisations including al-Qaeda in Iraq.
The use of the word "slaughtered" suggested the insurgents had beheaded the two US soldiers who were abducted after an attack on their checkpoint south of Baghdad on Friday.
The US military meanwhile has confirmed that the two soldiers are dead.
"The bodies were found last night in the vicinity of Yusufiya.
"Coalition forces have recovered what we believe are the remains of the soldiers," Major-General William Caldwell told a news conference.
- AP