Gunmen kill top US-allied Sunni group leader, 6 others in Iraq

Baghdad: A member of a US-allied Sunni group says gunmen killed one of the group's senior leaders and six of his guards in an ambush south of Baghdad.

The official says the gunmen attacked the convoy of Shaikh Ibrahim Al Karbouli in Youssifiyah on Monday. He was a senior leader of the so-called awakening council in the town, which is a former Al Qaida stronghold about 20 kilometeres south of Baghdad.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity out of fears for his own security.

Al Qaida has frequently mounted reprisal attacks against awakening councils because of their success in cutting into support for the terror movement among Iraqi Sunni Arabs.