Lawyers among eight killed in Iraq attack

TIKRIT: Gunmen shot dead an Iraqi lawyer, his judicial investigator son and six of their family members early on Wednesday, after Al-Qaeda warned it would target judges and lawyers in a new campaign.

The shooting took place at the home of Khayrallah Shati, a lawyer in the town of Baiji, 200 kilometres (120 miles) north of the capital, killing him, his wife, five sons and another relative who was staying with them.

"Khayrallah Shati, his wife and five sons, and a family guest staying with them, were killed early this morning in Baiji," a police officer said on condition of anonymity. "Gunmen raided his house and opened fire on the family.... Initial reports are that this is a terrorist attack, but the investigation is still ongoing." The officer said one of Shati's sons was a judicial investigator.

An official in the main hospital in Salaheddin provincial capital Tikrit said the facility received eight bodies -- seven men and a woman -- all of whom suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

Al-Qaeda's front group the Islamic State of Iraq said in July that it was launching a "new military campaign aimed at recovering territory." An earlier message posted on various jihadist forums said the ISI would begin targeting judges and prosecutors, and try to help its prisoners break out of jails.

The latest violence brings the number of people killed in attacks in Iraq this month to at least 77, including 47 security forces members, according to an AFP tally based on security and medical sources. While violence has decreased from its peak in 2006 and 2007, attacks remain common across Iraq. There were attacks on 27 of the 31 days in July. Official figures put the number of people killed in attacks in July at 325, the highest monthly death toll since August 2010.