News Flash

25 killed by gunmen in Iraqi village

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-04-03 17:00
Large Medium Small

BAGHDAD - Militants killed 25 people after storming houses in a village in southern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said Saturday.

Related readings:
25 killed by gunmen in Iraqi village Six Iraq al Qaeda leaders killed or arrested - US
25 killed by gunmen in Iraqi village Car blast kills two in Russia's Dagestan
25 killed by gunmen in Iraqi village 5 killed, 28 wounded in bombings in Iraq
25 killed by gunmen in Iraqi village Iraq bombings kill 42 before vote results

The attack took place late night on Friday in Sufiya, the Rasheed district, when dozens of gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniforms raided three houses, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Iraqi security forces have sealed off the scene and are searching the suspects in the area, the source added.

The victims apparently were families of government-backed Awakening Councils paramilitary groups, who turned their rifles against the al-Qaida network in Iraq after the latter exercised indiscriminate killings against both Shiite and Sunni Muslim communities.

The area is part of the volatile region of Hour Rajab, once a stronghold of al-Qaida militants after the US-led invasion in 2003.