Militants kidnap, kill 20 Iraqi soldiers

String of attacks claim 17

BAGHDAD, May 11, (AFP): Authorities in Iraq have found the bodies of 20 soldiers shot dead after being kidnapped from a northern military base, and a string of attacks on Sunday killed 17 people.

The bloodshed comes as officials count votes from the April 30 general election amid a protracted surge in violence that has killed more than 3,200 people this year.

The bloodletting has fuelled fears that Iraq is slipping back into the all-out sectarian conflict that left tens of thousands dead in 2006 and 2007.

Authorities have been quick to blame external factors such as the civil war in neighbouring Syria for the rise in unrest.

However, analysts and diplomats say the Shiite-led government must do more to reach out to the disaffected Sunni Arab minority to undermine sup-

The election comes more than three years into a revolt against Assad’s rule that has killed more than 150,000 people and forced more than 2.5 million to seek refuge abroad. The war has destroyed entire cities and towns, left the economy in tatters, and set alight sectarian hatreds in a society once known for its tolerance.

With the country so bitterly divided, it remains unclear how the government intends to hold a credible vote in the middle of the conflict. But officials have brushed aside such doubts, and have forged ahead undeterred.

Assad faces two other candidates in the race: Maher Hajjar and Hassan al-Nouri, both members of the so-called internal opposition tolerated by the government. But the men are relatively unknown, and

“I want Donetsk to have its own powers, some kind of autonomy, separate from Kiev. I’m not against a united Ukraine, but not under those people we did not choose, who seized power and are going to ruin the country,” she said.

Others see the vote as a nod to absorption by Russia.

Annexation is favoured by the more prominent rebels, but the ambiguity may reflect their fears an explicit call for full “independence” might not have garnered the support they seek and could leave them in an exposed position towards Kiev.

The present government came to power when President Viktor Yanokovich was toppled in February after mass protests in Kiev.

Pro-Western activists were angered by his decision to discard a cooperation accord with the European Union in favour of closer ties with Moscow. They also accused him of corruption penetrating all areas of the Ukrainian state.

Voting is due to end in the hastily arranged referendum in 53 locations at 10 pm (1900 GMT) and the rebels hope to have the ballots counted by Monday afternoon, although its outcome will not be widely recognised internationally or by Kiev. port for militancy.

In the north, militants attacked a small military base, abducted 20 soldiers and later shot them dead. Their bodies were found in the area on Saturday night, according to security officers and a morgue employee.

The powerful Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadist group claimed the attack in a statement, saying it had targeted members of the “Safavid army”, a pejorative term to link Iraq’s security forces with those of Iran, which was once ruled by the Safavid empire.

“God willing, these operations will not stop,” the statement added.

ISIL and an army major general said the kidnappings took place in Nineveh province on May 5.

The previous month, militants killed 12 soldiers and wounded 15 in an assault on a military base west of neither has the full weight of the state behind him like Assad does.

That distinction was on full display Sunday on the streets of Damascus.

On the bustling Thawra Street in the center of the city, two new Assad billboards greeted the crowds below. One shows Assad, dressed in a gray suit and blue shirt, along with the word “Together.” The second billboard just reads “Together,” along with the president’s signature.

Several cars flying national flags and photos of the president blasted nationalist songs as they cruised the capital’s streets in a show of support for Assad, who has ruled the country since taking over from his father, Hafez, in 2000.

Riyadh Shahin, 44, a government

With several hours of polling to go, Russian news agencies were already reporting a turnout of more than 75 percent, although a separatist spokesman in Luhansk said troops had prevented the movement of ballot papers in several areas.

One way or another it is likely to show a large “yes” vote, and one leading separatist said Ukrainian troops would be declared illegal occupiers once results were announced.

“It is necessary to form state bodies and military authorities as soon as possible,” Denis Pushilin, a leader of the self-styled Donetsk republic said, according to Interfax news agency.

Roman Lyagin, head of the rebel central electoral commission, struck a less radical tone to reporters in Donetsk.

“With the announcement of the results the status of the Donetsk region does not change in absolute terms. We do not cease to be a part of Ukraine, we do not become a part of Russia,” he said, although he left those options open.

“We want only to declare to the world that we want changes ... We want to decide the fate of our region ourselves,”

Moscow has massed troops on the border and Kiev fears they may be called in as Mosul, the capital of Nineveh province.

The province, where militants hold considerable sway, is one of the most consistently violent areas in Iraq.

Militants opposed to the Baghdad government frequently target the security forces, but it is rare for such a large number of soldiers to be kidnapped at once, especially from a military position.

Meanwhile, violence in Baghdad and north Iraq killed 17 people on Sunday, security and medical officials said.

Four policemen, two soldiers and a civilian were killed in attacks in Nineveh province, while one person was gunned down in Salaheddin province.

In Kirkuk province, gunmen killed a policeman and two soldiers.

Two people were shot dead in the capital, while four more people, including three anti-Al-Qaeda militiamen, were killed on the city’s outskirts. employee, said that he intends to vote for Assad.

“I am still convinced that he was still the sole leader who can achieve the aspirations of the Syrian people,” Shahin said. “In my opinion, Assad is the suitable person for this post, because without him, Syria was now divided. He is the sole guarantee to keep Syria strong.”

By late Saturday, the other two candidates had pitched up their own photographs along other main roads of Damascus, scrawled with slogans.

“Change is a necessity,” was written under Hajjar’s photograph on Mazzeh street. “Administrative and human development is our slogan to build the homeland,” read a promise by the other candidate, al-Nouri. peacekeepers. Serhiy Pashinsky, head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, said a column of armoured vehicles on the Russian side of the border bore the colours of UN peacekeeping forces. He offered no evidence or detail.

“We warn the Kremlin that appearance of these forces on the territory of Ukraine would be assessed as military aggression and we would react as we would in the case of military aggression,” he told reporters.

Ukrainian leader Oleksander Turchinov has urged eastern political leaders to join a “Round Table” discussion on devolution of powers in Ukraine. But he says he would not negotiate with “terrorists”, a formulation meant to exclude most of the more prominent rebel leaders.