9 killed in Iraqi violence

Five civilians were killed, including four women and a 5 year old boy, when gunmen planted bombs around the house of Najah Abdullah in Saqlawiya on Friday around 3 a.m., police officials tell CNN.

Abdullah’s 5 year old son, his two daughters and his mother in law were killed in the explosions, and two of his relatives were wounded, police said.

Saqlawiya is predominately Sunni district in Anbar province, about 45 kilometers northwest of Baghdad.

Hamad Khalaf, a cousin of Abdullah told CNN that in 2008, al-Qaeda members attacked Abdullah’s house because he was working with the police but failed to harm him or his family. He said Abdullah tracked the attackers down with the help of his colleagues, killed two of them and destroyed one of their vehicles .

“Since that day the attackers vowed to kill Abdullah, and he has received many threats,” Khalaf said.

Separately, four people were killed including two Iraqi police and a soldier and 13 people were wounded including three police and two soldiers when three roadside bombs targeted security checkpoints near three Sunni Mosques shortly before Friday sermon in the al-Hasswa district about 20 kilometers west of Baghdad, officials with Falluja and Baghdad police tell CNN.

Violence across Iraq has dropped dramatically since the peak of the sectarian violence, which was mostly sparked by the bombing of al-Askariya Shrine in Samarra in 2006, but such attacks still occur on a daily bases.

As the December 31 deadline for the pullout of all U.S. troops approaches, these daily attacks raise more concern among Iraqi people who wonder whether Iraq security forces will be able to secure the country internally and externally.

From CNN’s Mohammed Tawfeeq