26 Sunnis killed in Iraq sectarian attacks - Conflict in Iraq - MSNBC.com

26 Sunnis killed in Iraq sectarian attacks - Conflict in Iraq - MSNBC.com: "BAGHDAD, Iraq - Suspected Shiite militiamen killed 26 Sunni Arabs in a city north of Baghdad that has been seized by a rash of sectarian bloodletting, an Interior Ministry official said Sunday.

The U.S. military, meanwhile, reported the deaths of a Marine and four soldiers.

The killings in Balad on Saturday were in apparent retaliation for the slayings of 17 Shiites whose decapitated bodies were found in an orchard on the town’s outskirts Friday. An outbreak of sectarian violence has killed 43 people so far in Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad." Read complete post here.