Eighteen shot dead after being abducted in Iraq

The corpses of 18 abducted people have been found near a town to the north of Baghdad, Iraq.

Police said that among those killed were at least one army officer and one tribal chief.

Killed with gunshots to the head, the bodies were abducted from their homes hours before. Eyewitnesses said that abductors were wearing police uniforms.

Execution-style killings have been on the rise in Iraq with sectarian violence between Shia and Sunni Muslims surging across the country in recent months.

The latest killings come days after police in different parts of Baghdad found the bodies of at least 13 people who had been shot dead.

The UN says 979 people - including 158 police and 127 military personnel - were killed in violent attacks in October. More than 6,500 civilians have died since January, the highest annual toll since 2008.

The United Nations has called on Iraq's political leaders to co-operate to end the bloodshed, which has escalated since an army raid on a Sunni Arab anti-government protest camp in April.

The protesters had called for the resignation of Shia Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, who they accused of targeting the minority Sunni community.

Iraq has also seen a spill-over of violence from the conflict in Syria, where jihadist rebels linked to the Islamic State of Iraq, a Sunni militant umbrella group that includes al-Qaeda, have risen to prominence.