BAGHDAD: Gunmen broke into a house early Sunday and fatally shot a family of three as they slept, Iraqi officials said. Separately, mortar rounds struck in central Baghdad, killing two.
The dawn house attack, which killed a mother, father and 13-year-old boy, occurred in the mixed Sunni-Shia neighborhood of Baiyaa in the southwestern part of the capital, a police officer said.
The shooters, who were wearing military uniforms, fled before they could be captured, he said. The motive behind the deadly shooting was not immediately clear.
In Baghdad's central Tahrir Square, two mortar rounds slammed into the street at about 1:00 p.m., killing two pedestrians and injuring 10 others, another police officer said.
Two other mortar rounds landed in central Jadiriyah district and injured five civilians, he added.
He said the mortar rounds were aimed at Baghdad's Green Zone, which houses Iraqi government headquarters and the US and British embassies.
Five Katyusha rockets hit the Green Zone, but there was no immediate word on casualties.
Police said the mortar rounds and rockets were fired from a scrap material yard in al-Nahda area in the eastern side of Baghdad where 11 other rockets were found. Two medical workers confirmed the casualty figures.
All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
Although violence has ebbed nationwide in recent years, militants are still capable of launching deadly attacks.
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