BAGHDAD, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Twenty unidentified bodies were found in Baghdad on Monday, Iraqi police said on Tuesday, a spike in the daily death toll after a marked reduction since the start of a major security crackdown. Most such bodies are victims of sectarian death squads and many are found tortured, bound and shot dead. The figure from the morgue does not include victims of bomb attacks or others who are taken to hospitals and identified there. The U.S.-led offensive against militants had sharply reduced the number of death squad killings in Baghdad since the operation formally began a week ago. Before the crackdown, police had been finding 40 to 50 bodies a day. On Sunday, they found just three bodies and in previous days around five each day. U.S. generals, mindful of the failure of similar crackdowns last year, have warned that militants are likely to adapt their tactics and perhaps lie low initially.
