7 Shia pilgrims were supposedly ambushed and slaughtered on Sunday near Madain by gunmen hiding in reeds on their way toward a shrine in northern Baghdad for an annual event marking the death of an eighth-century saint.
USA Today reported:
USA Today reported on Sunday:
Gunmen hiding in reeds in a Sunni town south of Baghdad killed seven Shiite pilgrims Sunday as they were marching to a shrine in the capital for a major holiday, officials said.
The International Herald Tribune also reported the dreadful news:
The story was repeated no less than 490 times by the mainstream media.
The Associated Press again reported the story on Monday:
On Sunday, at least seven pilgrims were killed south of Baghdad in an ambush by gunmen near a Sunni town, Madain, south of the capital.
The marchers were commemorating the death in 799 A.D. of Imam Moussa ibn Jaafar al-Kadhim, one of the 12 principle Shiite imams.
However, once again we find out later that this was just a bogus report and that authorities found nothing to back up the story.
Today the Iraqi military denied the reports of the ambush on the Shiite pilgrims.
Aswat Al-Iraq reported:
Iraqi military spokesman on Sunday denied reports of Shiite pilgrims killing in a town south of Baghdad.
“The security command denied media reports of Shiite pilgrims killing in Madai while they were en route to a holy shrine in Kadhimiya, north Baghdad,”Brig. Gen Qassem Atta, the military spokesman for Baghdad security plan, told Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq(VOI).
The spokesman emphasized “all sectors in Baghdad have enjoyed security stability and no violation or fire shooting has been recorded”.
Earlier, a police source said “seven young men were ambushed when gunmen opened fire in Madain, about 25 km southeast of Baghdad, as they were on their way to the shrine in the Baghdad neighborhood of Kadhimiya” a police source, who requested anonmity, told Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq(VOI).
The mainstream media has yet to correct their bogus reports.
