Baghdad family of three shot dead in bed

Published on Sunday 15 May 2011 17:55

Gunmen broke into a house and fatally shot a family as they slept, Iraqi officials confirmed last night.

Yesterday's dawn attack, which killed a mother, father and a 13-year-old boy, occurred in the mixed Sunni-Shiite neighborhood of Baiyaa in the south-western part of the capital, Baghdad, a police officer said. The gunmen, who were wearing military uniforms, fled before they could be caught, and the motive was not immediately clear.

Meanwhile, in Baghdad's Tah-rir Square, two mortar rounds slammed into the street at about 1pm., killing two pedestrians and injuring ten others. Two other mortar rounds landed in THE central Jadiriyah district and injured five civilians.

Police said the mortars were aimed at the Green Zone, which houses Iraqi government headquarters and the US and British embassies.

Five Katyusha rockets hit the zone, but there was no immediate word on casualties.