BAGHDAD, IRAQ - First, there was the surprisingly resilient Sunni insurgency. Then came months of extraordinarily bloody sectarian attacks. Now a third obstacle to restoring security has emerged: Shiite-on-Shiite violence.
A militia chief's brother, kidnapped last week in an act of vengeance that sparked a two-day battle over Amarah, was found dead Monday.
Authorities braced for more violence with the discovery of Hussein Bahadeli's bullet-riddled body, which bore signs of torture, in rural field near the city, said a forensics official in Amarah. His kidnapping Thursday set of a round of violence by militiamen loyal to his brother, al-Mahdi militia leader Sheik Fadhel Bahadeli.
The spread of revenge killings among Shiites in their southern heartland has opened an ominous front for coalition troops as American forces struggle to control insurgent and sectarian bloodshed to the north, especially in Baghdad.
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