February 22, 2010 - Gunmen with silencers killed a family of eight in Baghdad on Monday, beheading some of their victims, amid a spate of deadly attacks less than two weeks before Iraq's general election. Eleven other people were killed in attacks, including three in a suicide car bombing in west Iraq, and a police commando was shot dead by a sniper in Baghdad. Police arrested four men in connection with the brutal killings shortly after announcing the deaths of the eight family members at their Baghdad home, saying the group had confessed to other crimes as well. "A terrorist group carried out at 7:00 am (0400 GMT) a brutal crime against a family in Al-Wehdah neighbourhood," the Baghdad Operations Command said in a statement. "This gang killed eight members of this family using silencer pistols." It added: "The criminals have beheaded some of them." Baghdad police later said in a statement that they apprehended four people carrying silencers in connection with the murders. "The arrest came after Iraqi security forces got information about them," a statement said. The police did not immediately identify the gunmen and the motive for the killings was not immediately clear. Beheadings have been the trademark of Sunni insurgents in Iraq, particularly Al-Qaeda militants in the violence that flared after the 2003 US-led invasion. Click below for story.
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