Iraqi opposition groups say the Iraqi government executed two military officers during last month's air strikes.

The Iraqi Communist Party and the Centre for Human Rights, both based in London, say the men were executed by firing squad at the al-Taji military camp, one of the biggest in Iraq and a target of the air strikes.

They were named as Colonel Kazim Hussein al-Jubouri and Group Captain Amin Mahdi al-Jubouri, both from the al-Jubouri tribe, from which President Saddam Hussein recruits many of his soldiers.

The opposition groups said they did not know why the men had been killed.

On Monday, the American State Department said Iraqi had carried out hundreds of summary executions in the Shi'ite south of the country in the past six weeks.