A senior officer in the Interior Ministry's counterterrorism agency and three of his family members were killed in an armed attack in the al-Rasala neighbourhood of central Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad, Iraqi police said Wednesday (March 7th).

Baghdad police spokesperson Lt. Col. Mushtaq Talib told Al-Shorfa that gunmen attacked the house of Col. Refaat Naji al-Zubaie, director of the information analysis unit in the counterterrorism agency. The attack killed al-Zubaie, his wife, and his two sons.

"The gunmen used silencer-equipped weapons," Talib said. "A specialised team is now investigating the attack, which carries al-Qaeda's clear fingerprints."