Iraqi gunmen kidnap police chief's children

Baghdad: Gunmen stormed the house of a senior provincial police official on Friday, killing 14 people including his wife, and kidnapped his four children.

Police said the two brothers of Colonel Ali Delyan Ahmed, the head of police in Baquba north of Baghdad, were among the dead.

It was not clear if Ahmed was at his house at the time of the attack.

A local official, who asked not to be identified, said Ahmed had been directly responsible for the killing of three Al Qaida fighters in Diyala this week.

Al Qaida-led killings and attacks occur regularly in Diyala, where 3,000 more US troops have been sent to combat a recent spike in violence.