Four brothers slain in militant attack south of Baghdad

By Ibrahim Saleh

BAGHDAD (AA) - Four brothers were killed Friday, including two members of the pro-government Hashd al-Ashaeri tribal militia, when unidentified gunmen attacked their home south of Baghdad, a police officer said.

Interior Ministry official Daham al-Mahmoud told Anadolu Agency that unknown assailants had attacked the home of a Hashd al-Ashaeri leader -- whose name he did not provide -- in the Arab Jabour area south of the capital.

Gunmen, he said, had opened fire on the tribal leader and three of his brothers -- all of whom were killed instantly -- before fleeing the scene.

Security forces, the official added, had since been deployed in the area, where they were conducting raids with a view to locating the attackers.

Drawn up of armed Sunni tribesmen loyal to the government, the Hashd al-Ashaeri ("Tribal Mobilization") was established after the Daesh militant group overran vast swathes of territory in northern and western Iraq -- including the northern metropolis of Mosul -- in mid-2014.