Iraqi police say at least 50 bodies showing signs of torture have been found in the Baghdad area.
Police say the mutilated corpses, discovered early Monday, had bullet wounds and were most likely victims of sectarian violence.
On Sunday, police say a group of gunmen kidnapped 26 workers from a meat processing factory in western Baghdad. It was not immediately known if some kidnap victims were among the corpses found today.
Iraqi officials say three soldiers from the Iraqi army's quick reaction force were killed early today in an ambush near Kut, 40 kilometers southeast of the capital.
The U.S. military says two U.S. Marines were killed in action Sunday in Anbar province. And the British military says one of its soldiers was killed in a mortar attack in Basra.
On the political front, Iraq's parliament voted today to extend the country's state of emergency for 30 more days. The state of emergency has been renewed every month since first authorized in November 2004.
It grants security forces greater powers, allows for a nighttime curfew and gives the government extra powers to make arrests without warrants.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.