Family and relatives of officer killed in Baghdad

Gunmen stormed the house of a police officer in a central Baghdad neighborhood Saturday, killing eight of his relatives including his wife and two sons, a police official said. Maj. Mohammed al-Ameri, a Shiite, is the commander of the Bilat al-Shuhada police station, just south of the neighborhood of Dora, where insurgents are known to be active. Al-Ameri was at work when the attack occurred on his home in Baghdad's predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Fahamah, according to a police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information. Al-Ameri's wife, Fadhila Khalaf, was killed along with their two sons, ages six and 12, the official said. Al-Ameri's mother-in-law and his wife's nephew also were killed. The exact relationships of the other victims was not immediately known.