BAGHDAD, April 20 (Reuters) - Iraqi army and policemen discovered 30 decomposed bodies on Sunday in a mass grave north of Baghdad, the Iraqi military said.

The bodies were found near the town of Muqdadiya, 90 km (55 miles) northeast of Baghdad, in the restive province of Diyala where al Qaeda Sunni Arab militants have regrouped after being driven out of other areas.

"The bodies were decomposed and dumped in a mass grave," Abdul-Kareem al-Rubaie, the head of military operations in Diyala told Reuters. "Some were in police and army uniforms, others in civilian clothes."

Mass graves are found often in Iraq, many a result of sectarian violence that peaked in 2006 and the first half of 2007 and killed tens of thousands.

The bodies of 16 decapitated and decomposed men were found in the desert near Diwaniya in southern Iraq on Saturday.

(Writing by Aseel Kami; Editing by Ibon Villelabeitia)

AlertNet news is provided by