Council leader, family killed in their sleep in Iraq

By Mohammed Tawfeeq, CNN

November 7, 2013 -- Updated 1847 GMT (0247 HKT)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Attacks leave 14 people dead, 15 wounded
• A family of 6 are killed in their sleep
• Among them was the head of an Awakening Council
• Violence has killed nearly 6,000 people this year, according to the U.N.

(CNN) -- Gunmen burst into the home of a local leader Thursday in Iraq, killing him and five of his family members as they slept. The attackers then planted explosives and blew up the home, police said.

The attack took place in Tikrit.

The man killed led a local Awakening Council. The councils are made up mostly of Sunni fighters who turned against al Qaeda in late 2006. The movement is backed by the United States and is a target for jihadists.

Five danger signs in Iraq

It was one of several attacks Thursday that killed 14 people and wounded 15, police said.

In Mosul, a bomb at a vegetable market killed three people and wounded 10 others. In Anah, a suicide car bomber targeted an Iraqi army security checkpoint, killing three Iraqi soldiers and wounding five others.

And in Baghdad, two people were shot dead by gunmen in two incidents.

Violence in Iraq has killed nearly 6,000 people this year, according to the United Nations.

Iraq's Shiite-led government has blamed recent violence on Sunni extremists with al Qaeda in Iraq.

Iraq's violent year shows no signs of slowing