The specter of a return to sectarian bloodletting in Iraq after the latest killings in the southern part of Salahuddin province has raised alarms in the Sunni-majority province northwest of the capital.
Gruesome photos of the corpses of eight young men from a village in the Farhatiya district near Balad, hands bound behind their backs, appeared in WhatsApp chats and then on social media on the evening of Oct. 17. Twelve men had been kidnapped, but as of Monday morning, it was still unclear what happened to the other four.