Shi'a Shot Dead In Northern Iraq

Reports from northern Iraq say gunmen have killed at least six Shi’ite Muslim men while they were swimming.

Officials said the attack happened on August 11 outside the Shi’ite Turkoman village of Amerili.

The attackers arrived on motorcycles and executed the Shi’a after separating them from Sunni Arabs, whom they allowed to go free.

While violence has decreased from its peak in 2006 and 2007, attacks remain common across Iraq.

Most Iraqi Shi’a are Arabs.

Attacks against Iraqi Shi’a are often blamed on Al-Qaeda's Iraqi branch.

Turkomans are one of the country's minority ethnic groups, and they include both Sunnis and Shi’a.

Based on reporting by AP and AFP