New curfew after 15 Iraqi soldiers are shot dead

A militant group said it had killed 15 Iraqi soldiers yesterday as the government in Baghdad ordered the closure of the country's main airport and a broad new curfew for next week's elections.

Ansar al-Sunnah, known as a violent militant group, said it had kidnapped the soldiers from a bus earlier this month near the town of Hit, north-west of Baghdad. Iraqi troops and policemen have been frequent targets of the insurgency since the US and British invasion.

In a statement on the internet, Ansar al-Sunnah said its victims had 'confessed to the crimes they have committed with the crusader forces against civilians and mujahideen... With God's help, God's verdict has been carried out against them by shooting them'. snip

Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib, said yesterday Baghdad airport would be closed for three days around polling day and announced a new curfew from 8pm to 6am in several cities. Traffic will be severely restricted and Iraq's land borders closed. 'All our security forces have been put on alert to face any terrorist attacks targeting these elections,' he added.

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