Iraqi government officials found 41 corpses in two different locations. Many of the bodies were beheaded and/or ridden with bullets. Officials believe the corpses were those of Iraqi soldiers who were kidnapped by insurgents and then executed.

26 of the bodies were found in the village of Rumana, not far from the Syrian border. They were discovered late Tuesday night. The bodies had apparently been there for a few days before being discovered.

15 more dead bodies were found in Latifiya, south of Baghdad. All of them were beheaded and found inside a former army base that is now abandoned. Three women and two children were among the dead.

Elsewhere in Iraq, a suicide bomber killed three people and himself in Baghdad when he blew up a garbage truck near the Agriculture Ministry. The blast was also near a hotel used by Western contractors.

The group calling itself al-Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility for the blast and on a statement posted on the Internet, claimed that the Sadeer Hotel which was the target of the blast was the 'hotel of the Jews.'

Another car bombing targeted an American checkpoint outside Habaniyah, 50 miles west of the Iraqi capital. The U.S. Army had no further details about the incident as of yet.

Despite the relative success of recent elections, the insurgency in Iraq continues to fight on.