According to Colonel Emad Mohammed, the recruits were being driven to Samarra on Tuesday when they were stopped by gunmen near Tarmiya. One wounded man told police he was the sole survivor of a group of 15 thrown into a well and sprayed with bullets.

On Sunday Colonel Mohsen Jassim, chief of police of Salaheddine province, said the bodies of 23 recruits had been discovered. The 12 other bodies were found last week.

The Tarmiya area is a stronghold of Sunni Arab guerrillas who have made the new, US-trained Iraqi security forces a prime target in their battle against the Shi'ite-led Government.

"We don't have the power to control this situation," said Colonel Mohammed, who is based at the nearby, predominantly Shi'ite, town of Dujail.

Reuters