Gunmen killed a couple and their daughter in the Baiji district of Salahaddin province on Wednesday and set their bodies on fire.
“Two people were arrested, one of whom is a relative of the victims. The motive behind this crime was the theft of gold,” the ministry stated, adding that the suspects confessed to the crime.
A week earlier, in the Samarra district of the same province, gunmen in military uniform killed an entire family of seven, including children.
Samarra, with a population of approximately 200,000 people and located 124 km north of Baghdad, is one of the largest cities in Salahaddin governorate.
Gun ownership is widespread in Iraq and firearms can be purchased on the black market. Both the federal and the Kurdistan Regional Government have introduced measures to try and limit the number of illegal guns in the country.
