Policeman and four family members killed in Baghdad

THE bodies of a Sunni policeman and four of his family members were found on the outskirts of a village north of Baghdad yesterday morning, just hours after they were abducted from their home by gunmen, authorities said.

The assault occurred in Diyala province, where al-Qaida in Iraq retains a presence and violence has remained, despite drops elsewhere.

Extremists have long targeted Iraqi policemen and al-Qaida in Iraq has repeatedly said it will aggressively target Iraqis who join the security forces.

Yesterday’s attack happened on the northern outskirts of Jalula, a mixed city of Shi’ites and Sunnis, 128km north-east of Baghdad.

An unknown number of gunmen attacked the policeman’s home, killing the man, his father, his two brothers and his cousin.

Hours later in the same province, a Shi’ite man and his 16-year-old son where killed in a drive-by shooting, police said. The two were standing outside their home in Tahwelah, about 32km east of Baqouba.

On Monday Iraq’s government released statistics on the number of civilians and security force members it said were killed in 2007.

According to the health, defence and interior ministries, 16,232 civilians, 432 soldiers and about 1,300 Iraqi policeman died in 2007. In 2006, the ministries said 12,371 civilians, 603 soldiers and 1,224 policeman were killed.

The Iraq government’s figures were roughly in line with a count kept by Associated Press.

For 2007, the count found that 18,610 Iraqis were killed. In 2006, the only other full year an AP count has been tallied, 13,813 died.

The AP count — which includes civilians, government officials, and police and security forces — is compiled from hospital, police and military officials, as well as accounts from reporters and photographers. Insurgent deaths were not included. Other counts differ and some have given higher civilian death tolls.

In addition to policemen and Iraqi soldiers, the 70,000-plus Sunni fighters who have joined an anti-al Qaida in Iraq movement are being targeted by extremists.

On Monday, a suicide bomber killed 12 people at a checkpoint manned by such fighters, in one of a series of strikes against the movement singled out by Osama bin Laden as a “disgrace and shame”.

Leaders of the rapidly expanding US-backed movement, credited with helping slash violence across the country by 60% since June, condemned bin Laden’s latest message to his followers. In an audiotape that emerged on Saturday, bin Laden warned Sunni Arabs against joining the groups, saying those who join the groups “have betrayed the nation and brought disgrace and shame to their people”.