Special report:Tension escalates in Iraq

    MOSUL, Iraq, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Four Iraqi soldiers have been arrested for raping an ethnic Turkoman woman in the town of Tal Afar, some 400 km north of Baghdad, the second such allegations being leveled against Iraqi security personnel in a week, an official said on Thursday.

    The crime allegedly occurred ten days ago when Iraqi security forces conducted a search for weapons and insurgents in the town of Tal Afar, the mayor of the town, Brigadier General Najim Abdullah al-Jubouri told Xinhua.

    "Few days ago, we received a complaint from a local woman that she was raped by a lieutenant and three security members," Jubouri said.

    "After a brief investigation the men confessed and they have been referred to the judicial authorities so they can receive their just punishment," he said.

    The 40-year-old woman first appeared on a Turkoman satellite channel on Wednesday evening and alleged that she was raped by the soldiers after Iraqi forces stormed her house in the town. The woman said they also videotaped the rape, then tortured her and threatened to rape her young daughters if she didn't cooperate with them and provide them with information on terrorists.

    The woman said she has 11 sons and daughters to look after as her husband and all his brothers have been detained by the security forces.

    The latest claim comes just days after a 20-year old Sunni woman from western Baghdad accused three Iraqi policemen of sexually assaulting her. But the Iraqi government denied the accusation.

    Rape victims in the conservative Iraqi society rarely go to publicity because they fear public scorn and humiliation. A woman who acknowledges being raped in Iraq risks death at the hands of male relatives seeking to restore their family's honor.