Gunmen shot dead nine members of an Iraqi family after storming their house in the village of Awja, north of Baghdad, on Thursday, police said. "They attacked the house at 4 a.m. and opened fire," said a policeman, according to Reuters. "They killed the husband, his wife and their seven sons. We don't yet know why." Acording to him, the victims were Sunnis from Saddam Hussein's clan.
The victims were all of the executed president's clan, police confirmed later. "The father of the family was a member of (Saddam's) Bijat clan," said a neighbor, Moussa Faraj. "He had no political ties nor was he a member of the former army. He was a simple businessman."
"Among those killed were men, women and children. They were members of the same family," a police official told Agence France-Presse. "Only an eight-year-old child was left unharmed."
