An Iraqi militant group said it killed 11 Iraqi National Guards abducted last week and posted pictures of the killings on its website.
The Army of Ansar al-Sunna said it had beheaded one of the soldiers and shot the other ten. It showed a picture of a beheaded man and a separate picture of a group of men lying on the ground, apparently shot in the head.
A spokesman for the Iraqi Defence Ministry said it had no reports that the 11 National Guards were missing.
The group said on Tuesday it ambushed 11 members of what it said was the Legion Security Force between Baghdad and Hilla, south of the capital, on October 21st. It had shown photos of some men in uniform and others wearing T-shirts with "LSF" on them.
"After questioning them it became evident that this unit's duty was to protect occupying American crusader forces. . . . We slaughtered one of them and shot dead the rest," the group said in a statement today.
"We warned you several times not to support the crusaders but your weak wills and love of the dollar led you to this fate," it said and warned Iraqi soldiers against supporting US-led forces and Iraq's interim government.
The authenticity of the statement and pictures could not be verified.
The Army of Ansar al-Sunna has kidnapped and killed several hostages, including 12 Nepalese men and several Iraqi Kurds it said were "spies".
Al-Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi on Sunday claimed responsibility for killing 49 unarmed Iraqi army recruits northeast of Baghdad in one of the bloodiest attacks on the country's fledgling security forces.
The US military has been pounding suspected rebel targets in Fallujah almost daily in a bid to kill al Zarqawi and his militant followers.
US warplanes attacked the rebel-held city of Fallujah overnight, killing two people. The owner of a house that was flattened in the strike said two of his brothers were killed.