Updated on
Summary Gunmen have shot dead eight members of a family inside their house north of Baghdad.
Two police officers say the assailants broke into the home of a well-known lawyer in the city of Beiji, 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of the capital. They killed him, his wife, his five sons and a relative. The police did not know the motive.A health official in the citys hospital confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke anonymously as they were not authorized to release information.The attack followed a threat last month by al-Qaidas Iraq branch to assassinate judges and investigators.The oil center of Beiji is a former stronghold of Sunni insurgents. Violence has declined in Iraq since its height between 2005 and 2008 but attacks continue.
