BAGHDAD, (AP) – Iraqi soldiers say they have found at least 12 bodies in a mass grave south of Baghdad.

Associated Press Television News footage shows Iraqi troops and civilians combing a deserted area and digging in dusty soil with shovels. At least three severely decomposed bodies could be seen unearthed from side-by-side graves.

Iraqi Maj. Faisal Ali Hussein says he has found 12 bodies so far, all unidentified and some in handcuffs.

The grave was found Wednesday in Latifiyah, a mixed Sunni-Shiite area about 20 miles south of the Iraqi capital.