(December 6, 2010) Iraqi police have reported a new attack on Christians in Baghdad
by gunmen who broke into the home of an elderly couple on Sunday evening and killed
them. It was the latest in a series of attacks on the country's Christian minority,
which has been fleeing the country in droves since an Oct. 31 assault on a Catholic
Church in Baghdad that killed 68. Gunmen broke into the couple's residence in Baladiyat,
a predominantly Shiite area in eastern Baghdad, during the night and shot them dead,
an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said. Hours earlier, Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta said
in a press conference broadcast on state-run Iraqiya TV that 15 "Arabs" - in Iraq,
a euphemism indicating they came from outside the country - were responsible for three
deadly attacks in Baghdad in recent months, including the Oct. 31 Catholic church
siege. Police four gunmen raided the home and repeatedly shot the couple with silenced
pistols before escaping. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they
were not authorized to speak to media.