A fresh wave of violence gripped Iraq on Saturday leaving at least 27 people dead in five separate incidents in and around the capital Baghdad, according to Iraqi authorities and local news reports, according to dpa. In the town of al-Muqdadiyah, on the suburbs on the north-eastern Sunni-dominated Baquba province, 12 Iraqis belonging to one family were killed when a group of unidentified gunmen stormed into their houses and opened fire on them. The attackers fled immediately after the bloodbath, a police source said. The incident happened even as US Arrowhead Ripper operations and raids continued across Baquba, 60 kilometres north-east of Baghdad. During past weeks, the US military - with the aid of local security forces - had reportedly killed over 100 al-Qaeda-affiliated militants and captured around 250 others. In another incident, a group of unknown militants attacked a house in al-Hilla, 100 kilometres south of Baghdad, shooting dead nine people and wounding three others. The victims in the dawn attack included a number of women and children, according to police sources.
