14 bodies found in Baghdad

BAGHDAD:  Fourteen male bodies with bullet holes and showing signs of torture were found in Baghdad on Wednesday, police said.   

The corpses, also blindfolded and bound, were found in the capital's Shaab district.

All the bodies were those of men between the ages of about 20 and 30, the police said.   

Sectarian violence has jumped dramatically since the bombing of a major Shi'ite Muslim shrine in February.

The U.S. military estimates attacks on civilians have doubled since the bombing.   

Prime Minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki is expected soon to announce a new government of national unity embracing Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs and Kurds to quell a bloody insurgency and the sectarian bloodshed.