Over the past few weeks unknown assailants in Damascus have murdered some 30 people belonging to the radical Shiite militia Jaish Al-Mahdi, Saudi daily Al Watan reported Sunday.
Jaish Al-Mahdi operates in Iraq under the leadership of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
A member of the militia was quoted by Al Watan as saying that his fellow Jaish Al-Mahdi members were killed inside their Damascus apartments, adding that many other militia members have left the Syrian capital for Iran for fear they would be targeted next.
Tensions between Syria
and Iraq have been mounting over Damascus' refusal to hand over two Baath party members who are suspected of financing and planning deadly truck bombings in Baghdad. However, it remains unclear whether the killings in Damascus are connected to this dispute.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari and his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Moallem met recently in a bid to ease tensions, but failed to reach an agreement.
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