1115.org

The recent conflicts in Iraq seem to be tapering off for now*, which is obviously a good thing for everyone. However, we now learn that the violence over the last few days was much worse than initially reported:

Grisly attacks and other sectarian violence unleashed by last week’s bombing of a Shiite Muslim shrine have killed more than 1,300 Iraqis, making the past few days the deadliest of the war outside of major U.S. offensives, according to Baghdad’s main morgue. The toll was more than three times higher than the figure previously reported by the U.S. military and the news media.

Hundreds of unclaimed dead lay at the morgue at midday Monday — blood-caked men who had been shot, knifed, garroted or apparently suffocated by the plastic bags still over their heads. Many of the bodies were sprawled with their hands still bound — and many of them had wound up at the morgue after what their families said was their abduction by the Mahdi Army, the Shiite militia of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

(*EDIT, 10:12am: Unfortunately, “seem to be tapering off” isn’t exactly a scientific conclusion. It’s just been reported that 56 people have been killed in multiple attacks on Tuesday. That number will likely go up as more information comes in.)