Targeted

By HM/CS/MMN, *Gunmen kill Iraqi cleric family members* - Press TV - Tehran, Iran
Wednesday, July 14, 2010

At least four people have been killed and six others have been wounded after gunmen attacked the house of a Sufi Muslim cleric in the western Iraqi province of Anbar.

Three daughters and the grandson of Sheikh Mohammed al-Essawi were killed after gunmen broke into the cleric's house in Amariyah district and opened fire on his family members early on Wednesday.

According to police officials, three sons of the cleric, who are soldiers in the Iraqi army, were the original target of the attack. However, Al-Essawi's sons were not at the house at the time of the attack.

"Suspects from al-Qaeda threatened the cleric months ago ... They targeted him because his sons were soldiers", a police officer said.

The sheikh, his wife and four other members of his family were wounded in the attack.

Al-Qaeda-linked militants have carried out several attacks against Sufis -- practitioner of a Muslim mystic order -- since the start of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

In 2005, 10 people were killed and 12 others were wounded after a bomb went off near a Sufi shrine (Tekiya) located in north of Baghdad.