Family of 11 killed in Shiite militia stronghold

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — Masked gunmen stormed the family home of a journalist who was associated with Saddam Hussein’s party and critical of the Iraqi government, killing 11 relatives as they ate breakfast in a neighborhood known as a Shiite militia stronghold, colleagues said Monday.

Dhia al-Kawaz, editor of the Jordan-based Asawat al-Iraq news agency, was in Jordan when his sisters, their husbands and children were reportedly killed Sunday in north Baghdad’s Shaab district.

Witnesses said more than five masked men broke into the home and opened fire, then planted a bomb inside.