Gunmen kill eight in southern Iraqi town - police

Eight Shi'ite men from the same extended family were shot dead in a pre-dawn attack in a town south of Baghdad, police said.

Eight Shi'ite men from the same extended family were shot dead in a pre-dawn attack on Saturday in a town south of Baghdad, police said.

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Gunmen stormed the home in Jbela, a mainly Sunni town 65 km (40 miles) south of the capital. Three other men were wounded, but women and children were not harmed, the police said.

US and Iraqi forces have launched a crackdown to stem sectarian bloodshed between majority Shi'ite and minority Sunni Arabs that risks tearing Iraq apart, but violence has continued.